Prince Harry’s ‘His Royal Highness’ title removed from royal family website

Prince Harry. Photo / Getty Images

Prince Harry’s profile page on the royal family’s website has been edited to remove his “His Royal Highness” title.

The change went unnoticed until Express UK reported last week that Harry was still called “His Royal Highness” in his bio - before staffers at the outlet noticed that the page has been edited to remove two references to his title.

In both instances, the “His Royal Highness” title was used in connection with his work to raise HIV/AIDS awareness in 2016.

The title was replaced with “the Duke” or “the Duke of Sussex” - though Harry was not given the dukedom from his grandmother the late Queen Elizabeth until his wedding to Meghan Markle in 2018.

The royal family’s website is yet to be updated following several royal title changes after the Queen’s death. Last week, Express noted that Queen Elizabeth was still listed as the current monarch, King Charles was titled “The Prince of Wales” and Queen Camilla was still being called “the Duchess of Cornwall”.

A statement from Buckingham Palace confirmed to the outlet, “The Royal Family website contains over five thousand pages of information about the life and work of the Royal Family. Following the death of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, content has been revisited and updated periodically. Some content may be out of date until this process is complete.”

Prince Harry's page on the royal family's website has been updated to remove his HRH title. Photo / royal.uk

Shortly after Harry and Meghan announced their decision to step down from their roles as working royals in 2020, Buckingham Palace revealed that the couple would no longer use their HRH titles.

They would still be referred to as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and be called Harry, the Duke of Sussex and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. Since then, the pair have often introduced themselves as just “Harry” and “Meghan”.

Harry is fifth in line to the throne, after his brother Prince William and his three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. Harry and Meghan’s two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, are also in the line of succession after their father.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, pictured in September 2022.

When King Charles took the throne, the royal family’s website was updated to change Archie and Lilibet’s titles from “Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor” and “Miss Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor” to Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

Harry and Meghan’s children were not given those titles when they were born, but when they became the grandchildren of the current monarch.

A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex told People at the time, “The children’s titles have been a birthright since their grandfather became monarch. This matter has been settled for some time in alignment with Buckingham Palace.”