Piers Morgan said that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle should lose their royal duke and duchess titles in order to complete their “divorce” from the U.K., The Mirror reported.
In an outburst on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday, the presenter said that the couple claiming their independence and moving to the U.S. was “fine,” but he did not believe they should be able to retain their titles in doing so.
“If they really want to be independent, it seems they do, they want to live in Hollywood or Santa Barbara and wanna make woke movies or TV shows and make us feel lovely and fluffy about everything, that’s fine,” he said. “I just don’t think, as a Sussex resident all my life, I don’t think they should be allowed to keep the titles Duke and Duchess of Sussex.”
“A) They never go to Sussex and B) If they really want to leave the royal family, why would you even want the titles?” he continued.
“It’s like having a divorce and saying, ‘I want to pop back home every week.’ That’s not how it works,” he later added.
Good Morning Britain co-host Susanna Reid defended Meghan and Harry against Piers’ tirade, according to the publication, as she argued that the pair would be successful with or without their titles. Undeterred, Piers contended that if Harry was not a prince and his wife “was still Meghan from Suits,” Netflix would not have given them such a large sum of money. He added that he believed it is the duo’s titles that make them attractive to commercial partners.
According to the publication, Piers’ rant came in response to news that Meghan and Harry had paid back $3.1 million for Frogmore Cottage — their U.K. home — after the couple signed a multi-million dollar deal with Netflix , reported to be worth around $100 million. The journalist conceded that the payment on their home was a “step in the right direction.”
As the Daily Mail reported, the duke and duchess surprised royal sources when they announced they had fully reimbursed British taxpayers for the $3.1 million Sovereign Grant that was spent on renovating their Windsor pad. The couple had previously been paying the cash back in monthly installments. According to the publication, a source said that Meghan and Harry were relieved and pleased to pay off the renovation costs.
After Meghan and Harry announced they intended to relocate to the U.S., it was revealed that Harry’s father, Prince Charles, would make a private financial contribution during their first year out of the U.K. However, Charles is said to have cut off his private funding support following the pair’s Netflix windfall.
