King Charles has put on “an unexpected display of backbone” by not tolerating the “shenanigans of spares” Prince Harry and Prince Andrew, royal commentator Daniela Elser has said. The royal expert – writing about whether Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, should be stripped of their royal titles – said the monarch has recently shown he has no “has no intention of tip-toeing around feelings or worrying about upsetting the family’s troublesome dukes”.
Ms Elser said that within a day of Harry’s controversial, best-selling memoir, Spare, went on sale, Charles reportedly turfed the Sussexes out of their home in the UK, Frogmore Cottage.
She wrote in an op-ed in news.com.au: “Interestingly, the King has recently been putting on an unexpected display of backbone. Within 24-hours of Spare being released, reportedly, His Majesty decided to turf the Sussexes out of their UK home Frogmore Cottage.
“It was a handy move given that at some point he had also made the eminently sensible decision of cutting his brother Prince Andrew’s allowance, thus effectively evicting him out of his vast estate, Royal Lodge, he will no longer be able to afford the upkeep.
Referring to reports Charles is “furious” with Andrew’s refusal so far to vacate Royal Lodge, Ms Elser added: “These real estate moves would suggest that the King has no intention of tip-toeing around feelings or worrying about upsetting the family’s troublesome dukes in the quest to make the royal family seem both an efficient outfit and to not tolerate the shenanigans of the spares.”
Ms Elser also questioned whether Meghan and Harry could hold on to their royal titles.
She continued: “There is one very obvious thing that unites all of those affected by this title pruning…they are all spares or the children of spares.
“The obvious question here is, how much longer can the Spare and his wife hold onto theirs, especially in light of the coronation decision?”
Calls for Harry and Meghan to lose their titles have simmered ever since the couple stepped back from royal duties in 2020.
But they grew after the couple fired a series of bombshell claims over the gates of Buckingham Palace, including that Prince William physically attacked Harry and Camilla, Queen Consort, plotted to undermine the Duke’s public appeal to burnish hers.
Conservative MP Bob Seely has sought to present a Private Member’s Bill to the House of Commons to revoke the couple’s titles in the wake of their Netflix docu-series and Harry’s memoir.
Harry and Meghan were awarded the dukedom of Sussex on their wedding day by Queen Elizabeth II.
When the couple chose to step down as senior members of the Royal Family in 2020 they were stripped of their HRH status, but they kept their Duke and Duchess titles.
It emerged last month that Harry and Meghan’s children would also be referred to as prince and princess despite the couple’s repeated attacks on the Royal Family.
In an Express.co.uk poll, a staggering 96 percent (20,988 people) answered “yes” when asked if they supported Parliament stripping Harry and Meghan of their titles.
The Sussexes were accused of making a “mockery” of the Royal Family by continuing to use their royal titles in the USA this week.
Author Robert Jobson told TalkTV on Friday: “I think they’ve been making a bit of a mockery of the Royal Family, if you’re an American citizen, I mean I’m not really sure what’s the point of having these titles.
“I mean isn’t that what the wars of 1776 and everything [were] about, getting rid of the monarchy? I can’t really understand what the desire to hang on to them [is] if you want to start a new life in America, which is the land of the free.”
Calls for the Sussexes to lose their titles intensified this week after Buckingham Palace announced only Prince Harry will attend King Charles’s Coronation on May 6.
Meghan will remain in the US with their children, Prince Archie Harrison and Princess Lilibet Diana.
Archie will celebrate his fourth birthday on the same day Charles is crowned alongside Camilla at Westminster Abbey.
Some commentators have interpreted Meghan missing the Coronation as a snub, while others argue she is doing the right thing by her son to the relief of Buckingham Palace.
Sky’s royal editor Laura Bundock said: “[Meghan] has a good excuse as it’s Prince Archie’s fourth birthday so she will be staying.
“For Buckingham Palace this was the best outcome. There was a huge fear an appearance as a couple would create a media circus. Their glances, sneaked words with other members of the family.
“We have seen him recently but, haven’t seen Meghan since the funeral of the Queen last year.
“This huge, ‘will they won’t they’ has finally been answered and Buckingham palace will be relieved with three and a half weeks to go, they have the answer.”
