Tory MP plans legislation to strip Harry and
Meghan of royal titles
Bob Seely says he was considering proposing private
member’s bill even before recent controversy over Netflix documentary
Tom Ambrose
Fri 9 Dec
2022 00.07 GMT
A
Conservative MP has said he is planning to bring forward legislation in an
attempt to strip the Duke and Duchess of Sussex of their royal titles. Bob
Seely told the PA news agency he could propose the short private member’s bill
early next year in an attempt to amend the 1917 Titles Deprivation Act.
If passed,
it would see MPs vote on a resolution that could give the privy council the
power to downgrade Harry and Meghan’s royal status.
“There is a
political issue,” he said. “As well as trashing his family and monetising his
misery for public consumption, he is also attacking some important institutions
in this country.”
However,
bills put forward by individual MPs that lack government support rarely secure
the votes needed to pass through parliament.
Seely is
planning to put forward an amendment to the act, which stripped royal titles
from those who supported Germany in the first world war, in early 2023. The
Tory MP asked why Harry continues to use the titles while “at the same time
trashes the institution of monarchy and his family”.
He is
understood to have been considering his private member’s bill even before the
recent controversy over the couple’s Netflix documentary.
Labour MP
Rachael Maskell already has a bill going through parliament that would give the
monarch new powers to remove titles or a committee of parliament to determine
that a title should be taken away. She previously said that her constituents
made it clear to her that they wanted the Duke of York’s title to be removed.
Meanwhile,
the employment minister, Guy Opperman, used an appearance on the BBC’s Question
Time to tell everyone to boycott Netflix.
“I don’t
think it has a fundamental impact on the royal family. I certainly won’t be
watching it. I would urge everyone to boycott Netflix and make sure that we
actually focus on the things that matter,” he said.
In the
series, released on Thursday, the Duke and Duchess accused the media of
“destroying” them before they left the UK, and said the royal family failed to
understand that Harry’s future bride required protection.
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