King could remove Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles under new bill

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex could be stripped of their royal titles if a new private members’ bill achieves success in Parliament. The proposed bill would enable the King to remove titles within the Royal Family at his own discretion or following a formal recommendation from the government. The news comes after the King requested an amendment to the Regency Act in order to install Princess Anne and Prince Edward as Counsellors of State. Under the current guidelines, Prince Harry and Prince Andrew have remained Counsellors of State, although neither royal figure has been involved with official royal duties for some time.Speaking on the Daily Express Royal Round Up, host Pandora Forsyth reported: ‘Prince Harry is still keeping his title despite the fact that he is not doing any royal duties on a public level because they want privacy. ‘Of course, that also brings up a whole world of problems, I can imagine, for King Charles.’Daily Express royal correspondent Richard Palmer added: ‘The interesting thing about the titles is the monarch has no power to remove their titles so it would need a change in the law.’Rachel Maskell, the MP for York, is bringing a private members bill to Parliament in early December which would do that.’ Prince Harry and Meghan could be stripped of their titles under new legislation (Image: GETTY) Prince Andrew could also be stripped of his Duke of York title (Image: GETTY)Rachel Maskell has presented a proposal for a Removal of Titles Bill, set to enter a second reading in the House of Commons on December 9.Speaking of the private members’ bill, the Labour MP said: ‘Residents made it clear to me in February that they wanted the Duke of York’s title to be removed from Andrew, the Queen’s second son, in the aftermath of revelations about his personal affairs.’I have heard the city and sought to explore ways that such a title can be removed, however without new legislation this will not be possible. ‘Not even the Queen, when she removed all his other titles, was able to remove his Dukedom. This legislation will therefore enable either the monarch or a Committee of Parliament to remove titles from disgraced owners of those titles.’Read more: Royal duties Harry and Andrew can carry out- but Anne and Edward can’t Labour MP Rachel Maskell has proposed the bill in wake of concerns over the Duke of York (Image: GETTY) While Ms Maskell has focused on Prince Andrew, a change in law could also affect Harry and Meghan (Image: GETTY)While Ms Maskell’s motivation for the bill lies with the Duke of York, a change in legislation would also make it possible for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to be stripped of their royal titles.Discussing the Labour MP’s approach, Mr Palmer added: ‘She is particularly concerned about the Duke of York and she thinks that her constituents in York do not want Prince Andrew to be the Duke of York any longer.’She wants to create the facility for the King to take the titles away from him, but a private members bill has got very little chance at making it into law unless the Government takes it up and supports it. ‘At the moment, there is no sign that the Government is going to do that, perhaps because the King doesn’t want to do that. Perhaps the King doesn’t want to humiliate, any further, his brother and his youngest son.’DON’T MISS:Prince Harry ‘firmly excluded’ by King  [REVEAL]’No going back!’ King praised for blocking Andrew’s royal return [REPORT]Who do you think should deputise for King Charles? [POLL] King Charles has requested an amendment to the Regency Act to strengthen his Counsellors of State (Image: GETTY)By law, the Counsellors of State are composed of the monarch’s spouse and the next four people in the line of succession who are over the age of 21.The current Counsellors of State are the Queen Consort, Prince William, Prince Harry, Prince Andrew and Princess Beatrice.The King has already addressed concerns surrounding two non-working members of the Royal Family in such senior positions.King Charles requested an amendment to the Regency Act which would allow him to appoint two additional Counsellors of State in the form of Princess Anne and Prince Edward, his two other siblings.In a statement to Parliament, the King wrote that the proposed change would ‘ensure the continued efficiency of public business when I’m unavailable, such as while I’m undertaking official duties overseas.’READ NEXT:King urged by readers to revoke Sussex titles over memoirMeghan lashes out at receiving ‘no credit, all the blame’ Charles’s plan to sideline Andrew and Harry being rushed throughHarry urged to ditch Netflix deal as Duke handed ‘resignation letter’Harry and Meghan ‘mistook popularity for position’ in key moment