Could Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leave the royal family?
PRINCE Harry and Meghan Markle have been in the spotlight ever since their bombshell ITV documentary aired.
Some now fear they could leave the Royal Family, even though there has been no official suggestion they are even considering it.
Could Harry and Meghan leave the Royal Family?
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have reportedly said they would like to live abroad in the US - and it was first thought they had picked out South Africa as an ideal spot.
The couple are planning to go to California already once they finish their commitments for the year.
However, it is now speculated they would want to make the US a permanent base.
But a royal expert has said they would have to renounce their titles if they chose to up sticks and make for the rainbow nation.
Royal correspondent Victoria Arbiter told New Zealand talk show, Breakfast, that if they left the UK, the pair would have to ";renounce royal privileges".
She said: "That’s just not going to be OK unless, of course, they renounce all of their royal privileges, their royal titles, everything to do with their life as a member of the royal family. I don’t see that happening, either.
"In the documentary, Meghan, 38, talks about the grass always being greener, but there are logistics that come into play when you’re a member of the royal family.
"Some of them are a little bit more obvious. So they move to South Africa, so who pays for their security there?
"Yes, they’re both independently wealthy and they could support themselves there. But is the South African taxpayer suddenly paying for their security, or is the British taxpayer paying for that? Neither party are going to be particularly happy."
It comes after Prince Harry revealed in an hour-long ITV documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey the pair have struggled with the fame that comes with the job.
He said: “Ever since I came to this continent as a young boy, trying to cope with something I can never possibly describe, Africa has held me in an embrace that I will never forget.”
If Harry and Meghan were no longer royal, their family wouldn't be eligible to receive funds like this from the Queen's Sovereign Grant, which goes toward supporting her and those who carry out royal duties on her behalf.
There is no suggestion the Sussex's have any plans to renounce their titles or royal privileges.
Has it ever happened before?
The Queen's own uncle, Edward VIII, infamously abdicated in 1936.
He gave up his thrown to his younger brother, George VI, so he could marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
Their relationship allegedly started in 1934, but Edward – then a prince – denied this to his dad King George V.
On January 20, 1936, George V died and Edward ascended the throne.
The Church of England felt Edward could not marry a divorced woman with two living ex-husbands and Brits were also reluctant to accept an American as a queen.
This prompted Simpson to flee to France to avoid the heavy press coverage.
He renounced his position as king in December 1936 and married Simpson the following June at the Château de Candé but no members of Edward’s family attended.
They became Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
How would renunciation work?
Unlike Edward VIII, Prince Harry is extremely unlikely to ever be king so abdication isn’t really on the cards.
But he could ditch his title and become a commoner, rejecting the allowance that he gets from the “the firm”.
The exact amount of that is unknown but in 2017, Harry, Kate and William had a combined allowance of £3 million.
Even if the Sussex’s did stop taking the allowance they wouldn't be short of a bob or too with Meghan having a pre-marriage personal fortune of around £3.8 million, according to The Independent.
Prince Harry is also allegedly personally worth around £30 million, most of which was inherited from his great-grandmother the Queen mother, and from his mum, Princess Di.
In addition, the couple would no longer be bound by royal protocol, meaning that they would be able to do endorsement deals to make money.
Sarah Ferguson famously did this after she split from Prince Andrew, becoming the face of Weight Watchers and collaborating with QVC.
Another possibility is that they could be allowed to keep their titles as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex but stop using the address His/Her Royal Highness as Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson did when they got divorced.