Harry and Meghan ‘downgraded’ on official Buckingham Palace website
Despite acrimoniously stepping down as senior working royals in January 2020, full profiles of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex separately had remained up alongside of the rest of the Royal Family.
Those pictures and biographies briefly vanished completely and were replaced with a significantly smaller, joint biography at the very bottom of the page – below the Duke of York.
The Sussexes’ entry now reads that they have stepped back as working royals, with just a couple of short paragraphs on each of them.
Prince Andrew’s entry was also updated, setting the seal on his fall from grace.
In what will doubtless be another humiliating relegation, his vastly-shortened biography now begins with the announcement of his withdrawal from public life over the Epstein scandal and Queen Elizabeth’s decision to strip him of his military affiliations and royal patronages.
Despite growing public anger at the Sussexes’ continued inclusion, Buckingham Palace has always side-stepped questions about why their details remained online despite the couple quitting royal duties four years ago and launching repeated attacks on the royal family in print and television interviews.
It has been suggested that the palace press office was ‘slowly’ updating the website following the death of Queen Elizabeth and would ‘get round to it in time’.
Harry’s original profile described him as fifth in line to the throne and the younger son of The King and Diana, Princess of Wales.
His 2,700-word biography included details of the prince’s early life, education and army career and was peppered with glossy pictures.
There was also an entire section devoted entitled ‘Supporting the Monarch’, which included his time as a working royal for his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth.
Meghan’s separate profile was slightly shorter – around 1,300 words – and included her education and career as an actress, as well as the charitable engagements she undertook during her brief time as a member of the Royal Family.
Interestingly, there was no mention of her parents, including her own family including estranged father Thomas Markle.
In what many will view as a marked downgrading of their status, however, the couple now only share a joint biography showing a picture of them arm in arm on a beach in South Africa, with a combined word count of just 577 words.
They are the only married members of the Royal Family now not to have their own individual profiles.
Harry’s includes just a few words about his birth and upbringing, as well as his career in the armed forces and work with the Invictus Games.
Meghan’s merely says she was an actress and ran a website, as well as briefly including her patronages as a working royal and her official titles.
Their new entry begins by stating they stepped back at as working royals in January 2020 and concludes with the three official statements released by Buckingham Palace between 2020 and 2021 official confirming their departure.
The link reads: Information about the current work of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex can be found on their official website: Sussex.com Sources insisted that the changes should not be seen as a snub, but a long overdue update.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment but noted that website design and content is updated from ‘time to time’.
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They should let them rest biko