Robert Hazell, a professor at University College London, said that life as a British Royal was not as cosy as it seemed. He argued that it entailed a huge loss of personal freedoms that placed onerous restrictions on individual Royal members. Mr Hazell expressed sympathy for Meghan, saying she had been ill prepared to face the realities of life in the Royal Family.
To avoid another Megxit, the Royal scholar had some sound advice for a future King of England.
He told Vanity Fair in a recent interview: “The loss of freedom is immense.
“Let’s just fast-forward 20 years and think of Prince George being in his 20s and marriageable.
“Any woman whom he might want to marry would, one would hope, be sufficiently well informed that they would think very hard about it.”
Mr Hazell was not surprised that Harry had been happy to quit the Royal Family and move to the US.
He said that the Duke of Sussex had been faced with the unenviable position of being a “redundant” heir to the throne, with little opportunity to find a meaningful role for himself.
It is a conundrum that is faced by many minor royal members in hereditary monarchies.
The professor explained: “The problem in essence is this: Monarchies all depend on hereditary succession.
“Prince Harry is a good exemplar. When he was born, he was much closer in the line of succession as Prince Charles’s second son.
“We all know the phrase ‘the heir and the spare.’
“He was the spare, and he was needed in case anything happened to the heir.”
He continued: “But, as the heir grew older, got married, had children of his own, Harry’s place moved down in the line of succession and he was no longer needed.
“So he became redundant, and that’s a familiar problem for minor royals in all the other countries.”