According to Graham Smith, CEO of Republic—an anti-monarchist organization—the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are making blunders in their split from the royal fold.
Speaking on Amazon Prime documentary Harry & Meghan: The Next Step, Smith said: “If they want to live privately, then they have to renounce their titles, abandon all claims to public funding and go and do their own thing.”
“Had they done that, I’d be standing here cheering them on, saying, ‘Well done’. But they have not done that, they still want to cling on to the purse strings of the British taxpayer and they still want to have that status that we have given them.”
Royal author Katie Nicholl also gave her take, claiming their decision could create trouble for the monarchy as well.
“This has opened up a Pandora’s box, and there are so many more wider issues at stake,” she said.
“The future of the monarchy, the streamlining of the monarchy – that you keep hearing people talk about – what does that actually look like if Harry and Meghan do step down?” she added.