Prince Harry is reportedly asking to have three military titles reinstated after he was forced to relinquish them when stepping down from his royal duties, pending a one-year review. The Telegraph reported Tuesday that the Duke of Sussex is requesting his honorary titles — Captain General of the Royal Marines, Honorary Air Commandant of RAF Honington and Commodore-in-Chief, Small Ships and Diving, Royal Naval Command — be reinstated in order to resolve one of the few issues he has had following his move with wife Meghan Markle to the U.S.
“His military work is one of the most important things to him,” a friend of the royal’s told the publication. “Of course he wants to keep them.” The insider added that Harry had expected to be able to travel back and forth to the U.K. more after stepping down last year, but his plans were halted due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Telegraph reported that a palace source indicated he will likely have to give up the titles, however, as the Queen won’t accept a “one foot in, one foot out” approach to the couple’s royal lives.
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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex dropped their bombshell announcement in January 2020. “After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution,” the couple said, in part, at the time. “We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen. It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment.”
Monday, CNN reported that Prince Harry officially settled a legal dispute with the Mail on Sunday and MailOnline over a story published implying he had turned his back on the Royal Marines. The Duke of Sussex asked that the “significant damages” awarded be donated to the Invictus Games Foundation to support wounded servicemen.
Jenny Afia, a lawyer for the royal, said in a statement to court on Monday that “the baseless, false and defamatory stories published constituted not only a personal attack on the Duke’s character, but also wrongly brought into question his service to this country.” His attorney added that Harry wanted the settlement to be donated to the foundation he founded in 2014 “so he could feel something good had come out of the situation.”
