Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been warned things could get "ugly" between their camp and Buckingham Palace when Prince William succeeds his father as King.
A source told Daily Expresso host JJ Anisiobi that the Prince of Wales was "instrumental" in issuing a letter describing Harry and Meghan as "private citizens" on the King's orders after their return to Britain.
William's push for action
"He's taken it as a big win and it's given him hope that his father might finally be seeing this more clearly," they added. "William is not going to stop pushing until the King agrees to take away their titles."
Commentator Mark Dolan said William will likely remove the titles himself if his father fails to do so, warning that the move would deepen divisions between the Sussexes and the Palace.
Potential consequences
"Harry and Meghan will weaponise any attempts to strip them of their titles because their whole grift is that they are victims," he added. "But as long as they are Duke and Duchess of Sussex, they can pretend to be royal, and that's a problem for the family and it's a problem for the monarchy."
"I don't think Charles will strip the titles," Mr Dolan said. "I think William will, and it's going to be ugly."
Background of the rift
Harry and William are not thought to be on speaking terms following the duke and duchess's acrimonious break with the Firm in 2020, after which they levelled a number of accusations at senior members of the Royal Family.
Harry depicted a deeply fractured relationship with his older brother in his memoir Spare, including an argument in 2019 when he accused William of grabbing him by the collar and knocking him into a dog bowl.
The duke and duchess, who returned to live in the UK just over a month ago, are still waiting to hear whether they will receive taxpayer-funded security.
They pulled children Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, from their first-choice British school in September after just two days when heavy traffic in the area meant their private security team struggled to stay in a convoy during the school run.
Battle lines also appeared to be drawn between the two camps by the release of Earl Spencer's memoir of his sister Princess Diana this month, which made explosive claims about the King, including that he said "we'll forget her soon enough" after his ex-wife's death.
The earl said Harry was "completely fine" with the book, while William was reported to be "furious", viewing it as a "betrayal" of the promise his uncle made to always protect William and Harry at Diana's funeral in 1997.
