The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have officially become non-working royals on April 1. In January, Prince Harry and Markle announced that they were stepping down as senior members of the royal family.
Queen Elizabeth II ordered that they should stop using the word “royal” and she forbade them from using their royal brand, “Sussex Royal.” Prince Harry and Markle said that the Queen has no rights over the word “royal” overseas. They also said they had no plans of using it.
On March 31, Prince Harry and Markle made their last post on their official account on Instagram. They thanked their fans for their support, inspiration and shared commitment. They have a whopping 11.3 million followers on the social media platform. The couple didn’t delete the account but hid the comment section.
Royal experts Roberta Fiorito and Rachel Bowie warned them against using the account again, which could be tempting as their massive following remains intact.
“It is funny to me that @SussexRoyal still has 11.3 million followers. I don’t think anyone has dropped off. They did say their goodbyes. Maybe I am being way too hopeful about this,” Fiorito said in the “Royally Obsessed” podcast.
“I feel like if they did post there they would be in trouble with the Queen,” Bowie commented. “Because it is still SussexRoyal. They would have to rebrand everything.”
Several praised Queen Elizabeth II for ordering the Sussexes to not use their royal brand. According to the Twitter users, the monarch outplayed Markle.
“I’m sure Harry didn’t expect the hard line the Queen drew in the sand. You’ve been outplayed Markle!” one commented.
“I find myself admiring the British monarchy when it stands its ground. The attempt to monetize your royalty while being disloyal to the royal family—is just grotesque,” Yoram Hazony, author of “The Virtue of Nationalism,” wrote on Twitter.
At present, Prince Harry and Markle are in Los Angles. The pair were spotted delivering hot meals in the area as volunteers for Project Angel Food. However, some accused them of doing it as a PR stunt because the charity has not been accepting volunteers, but they were allowed to do it.