Is Harry sabotaging the King’s plans for a slimmed-down monarchy? Watch Palace Confidential

Is Harry sabotaging the King’s plans for a slimmed-down monarchy? That is the question being posed to royal experts in the unmissable royal talk show Palace Confidential.

While Prince Harry’s decision to give his children titles may have disrupted King Charles III’s vision for the Royal Family, the king may yet have a trick up his sleeve. 

A couple of days after the announcement from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex that their children Archie and Lilibet would be known as prince and princess, Buckingham Palace announced that Prince Edward would be promoted to the Duke of Edinburgh. 

Speaking on the Mail Plus talk show Daily Mail Diary Editor Richard Eden said that King Charles ‘could hardly justify not giving his brother the title that he’d been promised by their parents,’ after the Sussexes announcement. 

It was widely thought that the King ‘didn’t intend’ to give his brother the title, held by their father, due to his wider plans of trying to ‘slim down the monarchy.’ 

Richard explained that there was a lot of ‘toing and froing’ with the decision as Edinburgh is a capital city, and thought that a direct royal line would be more appropriate.   

‘But then, when Harry and Meghan started using the Prince and Princess titles for their children, it became clear this wasn’t going to happen and then King Charles could hardly justify not giving Prince Edward the title he’d been promised by their parents,’ Richard explained. 

‘It was a big deal and I really think that was behind it.’

By insisting that the Edinburgh title revert to the Crown when Edward dies, however, the King has shown that he has an ace up his sleeve when it comes to his son’s actions.

He continued: ‘I have heard it said that part of the reason is that the King wants to stop Archie inheriting that title the Duke of Sussex. So this might be part of that, so he has now set that precedent. 

Speaking on the Mail Plus Royal talk show Palace Confidential Daily Mail Diary Editor Richard Eden (pictured) said that King Charles ‘could hardly justify not giving his brother the title that he’d been promised by their parents,’ after the Sussexes announcement

‘The problem is, that he’d have to do it with all the royal dukes so he really wouldn’t want to do that to the very well respected Dukes of Gloucester and Kent.’

Our panel also discuss the story in the Mail on Sunday that Prince Andrew is ‘bewildered’ that he hasn’t been given a share of his late mother’s inheritance. 

The Daily Mail’s Royal Editor Rebecca English said that despite what friends of the Duke say, the King has no desire to see his brother struggle.

She explained: ‘I’ve been strongly guided that Andrew is not going to be left homeless, he’s not going to be left penniless, he’s [the King’s] brother at the end of the day. 

‘But maybe what the King sees as a fair settlement and what Andrew sees as a fair settlement are not the same thing.’