Prince William may strip Prince Harry of a key royal role when he takes over from King Charles. By law, senior members of the Royal Family can act on the monarch’s behalf, carrying out most duties and functions when the sovereign is overseas or ill to the point where he or she cannot fulfil his or her official role.
Known as Counsellors of State, royals currently listed by Buckingham Palace in the role are Queen Camilla, Prince William, Princess Anne, Prince Edward, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Princess Beatrice and Prince Harry. Removing a royal from the list requires an Act of Parliament.
Pressure to strip Harry of the role has grown since he and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, stepped down as senior working royals.
There have also been calls for the King to remove his brother, the disgraced former Duke of York, from the role.
Daily Mail diary editor, Richard Eden, told Palace Confidential it was already clear to him that King Charles is not prepared to remove the title from Harry.
Mr Eden said: “So the idea was that they wouldn’t need to use Andrew or Harry because they had other people to take that role if needed.”
He added: “So I think it’s clear the King won’t. Who knows? It’s hard to predict what William will do. But I think it’s fair to say he will do something about it. He’ll take a very different line.”
Royal biographer, Robert Hardman, reminded the audience it is up to the Government and the process is governed by statute.
Daily Mail Royal Editor, Rebecca English, suggested the public views Harry’s removal as “censure” to those who have either betrayed or brought disgrace upon the Windsors.
She quipped: “What else can you do apart from telling them they’re a very naughty boy? Take away the things that give them validity.”
Ms English suggested it is something the public get quite annoyed about, including her colleague.