Meghan Markle uses HRH title on note seen during podcast for The Jamie Kern Lima Show

OPINION – – It was a moment intended as a public ‘thank you’ to the Duchess of Sussex for an act of kindness towards a friend in need, but it’s instead unearthed an apparent breach of an agreement made with the royal family five years ago.

Overnight Meghan sat down with her friend, IT Cosmetics founder Jamie Kern Lima, for her very first turn as podcast guest rather than host.

The episode, which ran for an hour and a half, was filmed for Lima’s YouTube page and the decision to film their conversation has seemingly landed the duchess in hot water.

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At 40 minutes in, Lima thanks Meghan for her thoughtful gift of a care basket containing ice cream and strawberry sauce after Lima was having a particularly tough time.

In the interview, Meghan recalls dropping off the basket, suggesting it was after she moved to California as the ice-cream brand is a local variety.

Meghan said: “I knew when I dropped off that strawberry… it wasn’t even preserves as it didn’t have time to set. I just made it quick because we had a lot of strawberries at the the time – I just knew that even if we never talked about it, that it would brighten your day.”

As the two women were speaking, an image was shown of a gift basket of ice cream and homemade strawberry sauce.

It featured a note printed on monogrammed paper which read: “With the compliments of HRH the Duchess of Sussex”.

The photo has apparently exposed Meghan for still using her HRH title despite an agreement that she and Prince Harry made with the late Queen Elizabeth II.

It was said to have been one of the conditions Prince Harry agreed to at the Sandringham Summit: they were not to use their royal prefixes after their exit from the royal family in January 2020.

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Although the couple were permitted to keep using their Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles, a statement from Buckingham Palace at the time said: “The Sussexes will not use their HRH titles as they are no longer working members of the royal family”.

From March 31, 2020, they agree to stop using their HRH titles, Prince Harry lost his military titles and he and Meghan most of their patronages, and public money was cut off.

They were also banned from using the word “royal” in any branding relating to their commercial endeavours and their hugely popular Instagram account, SussexRoyal, shut down.

They officially became private citizens on April 1, 2020.

In late 2023, Prince Harry had his HRH title removed on the royal family’s website royal.uk, which now lists the couple as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on their respective biography pages. Other royal family members are referred to as His or Her Royal Highness.

While the HRH designation was not stripped from the couple, the titles remain in abeyance.

Now, it appears that Meghan might still be using her HRH prefix despite being officially free of the monarchy for five years.

However, according to the The Telegraph UK a source close to the Sussexes suggested the image used in the YouTube podcast clip may have been old.

Others have pointed out another note, this time written by Ukraine’s vice-prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko, sent to Meghan last month, that addressed the duchess with the HRH title.

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The note started: “Your Royal Highness, I would like to express my sincere thanks for everything your family is doing for Ukraine”.

It apparently went uncorrected after being shared by Meghan following Prince Harry’s recent visit there.

There have been endless calls for Prince Harry and Meghan to give up their Sussex titles, with many arguing that they should not be used in their new Californian lives.

But as they were a wedding gift from the late monarch, it is highly unlikely the Sussex part of their names would ever be removed.

If Meghan is indeed using HRH five years on from leaving the royal family behind, it would be a direct breach of that agreement with Elizabeth II.

Prince Harry and Meghan aren’t the only royals to have had a change in stature since leaving the royal family.

The late Diana, Princess of Wales, was no longer able to use HRH after her divorce from then-Prince Charles, while Sarah, Duchess of York also lost hers when her marriage to Prince Andrew ended.

The Duchess of York has made a successful career as an author in recent years and continues to use her ‘York’ title without issue. She remains on good terms with the royal family and at Easter joined King Charles and Queen Camilla at Windsor Castle.

One thing is clear from Meghan’s appearance on Lima’s podcast: she is Meghan Sussex, and not Meghan Markle – a point she made with Mindy Kaling in her Netflix series in March.

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“Do you use ‘Markle’ anymore?” Lima asked.

Meghan replied, “No, not since I got married”.

What isn’t clear is whether the duchess still uses HRH when she thinks it might go unnoticed.

Unfortunately for her, this time – if the note was printed post 2020 – the duchess has made a major error in breaching such an agreement made with the royal family and one that many will take as a major sign of disrespect to the late monarch.

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