Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
- A UK member of parliament has promised to propose a bill to strip Prince Harry and Meghan Markle of their royal titles.
- This comes after a racism controversy was reignited by Omid Scobie’s book Endgame.
- “The Duke and Duchess can be Mr and Mrs like the rest of us,” wrote UK MP Bob Seely in a column.
A United Kingdom member of parliament has promised to propose a bill that would strip Prince Harry and Meghan Markle of their royal titles.
The conservative UK MP, Bob Seely, referred to the possible bill as the “nuclear option” in his column for The Mail on Sunday. He hopes to propose the bill “in the next couple of weeks,” he wrote.
Seely blamed Harry and Meghan for a racism controversy that was reignited after the release of Omid Scobie’s book Endgame.
The Dutch version of the book accidentally revealed that the royal members who allegedly commented about the skin colour of Harry and Meghan’s baby were King Charles III and Princess Kate.
The book was subsequently withdrawn from shelves.
UK TV personality Piers Morgan then shared the names to the general public. A royal source stated that Buckingham Palace was “considering all options” in response to Morgan’s comments.
READ MORE | UK royals may sue as Piers Morgan exposes names at the centre of Harry and Meghan’s ‘racism’ row
Seely took issue with Harry and Meghan’s feud with the royal family.
“I’m not a republican and support the monarchy, but after the latest instalment of the couple’s feud with the rest of the royal family, I believe that parliament and the Privy Council should consider a nuclear option,” Seely wrote.
Seely described his aim in the column:”If someone doesn’t want to be royal, that is a decision we respect – but they should not keep the titles and privileges if they trash an institution that plays an important part in our nation’s life.”
“Sources close to the Sussexes have stressed that Harry and Meghan are not behind claims made in Omid Scobie’s book. But I suspect that few people believe such denials,” he added.
“The Duke and Duchess can be Mr and Mrs like the rest of us,” Seely wrote.
Seely added that the use of race to “smear” the Royal Family is “poisonously insidious”.
His bill to strip the pair of the titles would be based on a WWI-era law, the Titles Deprivation Act of 1917, targeted at German nobles with British royal titles. He would have to remove the words “enemies” and “present war” from the law, according to Sky News.
Scobie has denied naming the royals at the centre of the controversy in his book.
“The version that I signed off… has no names in it,” he told the BBC, adding that he only found out about the issue from social media.
“The Dutch publisher told us there was a translation error,” he added, insisting “on my life, on my family’s life” it was not deliberate.
ALSO READ | Author denies naming UK royals in ‘racism’ row
However, the Dutch translator of the book insisted the names were in the manuscript.
In a different statement to the Times UK, Scobie said:
The reality, though, is that this is information that is not privy just to me. Journalists across Fleet Street have known those names for a long time. We’ve all followed a certain code of conduct when it comes to talking about it.
