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MP planning to bring forward legislation that could see Harry and Meghan stripped of royal titles
A Conservative MP says he is planning to bring forward legislation that could see the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stripped of their royal titles.
Isle of Wight MP Bob Seely said the short private members’ bill, which could be brought forward to the new year, would see MPs vote on a resolution that could give the Privy Council the power to downgrade the couple’s royal status.
It comes a day after the release of the couple’s “tell-all” documentary on Netflix, which has prompted anger from some royal fans.
Mr Seely said he had been thinking about the bill even before the documentary, saying there is a “political issue” with Harry’s comments, as he quit working as a senior royal more than two years ago.
He asked why Harry continued to use his title while “at the same time trash(ing) the institution of monarchy and his family”.
He told the PA news agency: “As well as trashing his family and monetising his misery for public consumption, he is also attacking some important institutions in this country.”
Meanwhile employment minister Guy Opperman told the BBC that the couple are “utterly irrelevant” to the progress of the UK and the Royal Family.
He said: “I think they are clearly a very troubled couple, which I think anybody looking at them can say is a sad state of affairs.
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Royal correspondent Laura Bundock looks at the Netflix documentary
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Harry & Meghan documentary – key moments.
“That having been said, I agree that they are utterly irrelevant to this country and the progress of this country and the royal family that we all, I believe, support.”
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Meghan says ‘when family and family business are in direct conflict’.
In the documentary, Harry alleges the Royal Family has “unconscious bias”.
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King Charles avoids questions on Harry and Meghan’s Netflix docuseries
He says: “In this family, sometimes you are part of the problem rather than part of the solution. There is a huge level of unconscious bias.
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The Duke of Sussex says members of the Royal Family asked why the Duchess of Sussex should be ‘protected’
“The thing with unconscious bias, it is actually no one’s fault. But once it has been pointed out, or identified within yourself, you then need to make it right.”
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The series also uses footage from Princess Diana’s BBC Panorama interview, which Prince William has said should never be broadcast again.
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Sky’s Rhiannon Mills gives her analysis of Harry and Meghan’s docuseries
The Duke of Sussex appears to criticise the parenting he received from King Charles, saying he tried to cope with the loss of his mother, who died in a car crash in 1997, “without much support or help or guidance”.
He added that he was “literally brought up” by a “second family” of friends in Africa.
The Duke and Duchess signed lucrative deals with Netflix and Spotify – thought to be worth more than £100m – after deciding to quit the monarchy in early 2020.