People working with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are instructed to address them in a very formal way, according to an explosive new report.
Glossy US magazine Vanity Fair has published a cover article about the Sussexes, which delves into their lives five years since they decided to quit as working royals. And the allegations have sent shockwaves across the internet.
The article contains more troubling claims about what it’s allegedly like to work for the couple, with some insiders recounting negative experiences. And according to sources said to be familiar with Meghan’s Spotify podcast Archetypes and Harry’s book tour, there was a special title they prefer staff to use.
The article claims that people were told to address them as ‘sir’ or ‘ma’am’ despite them no longer being working royals. However, the story adds that this request was dropped after one person pushed back. In addition, other people who were interviewed for the article said they were encouraged to call the couple by their first names.
One source said: “I think ultimately it’s cachet and sets them apart as different and special. In the US, success, money, fame, all of that stuff exists out here. But a blood title, it’s few and far between.” However, it is not the first time that it has surfaced that those working with Harry and Meghan have been told to use formal styles. Last year, the CEO of the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 revealed how he was told to address the couple.
In an interview with the local weekly newspaper in Whistler, the Vernon Morning Star, Scott Moore, who has worked in sports broadcasting, said he was keen to brush up on protocol ahead of meeting the fifth in line to the throne and his wife. And he told the publication: “I did make sure to ask how I should be addressing them when they get here, and I was told the simple sir and ma’am is fine.”
When it comes to addressing members of the Royal Family, protocol dictates that in the first instance, they should be called ‘Your Royal Highness’ while after that it is either ‘Sir’ for males or ‘Ma’am’ for females. The only slight exception to this is King Charles and Queen Camilla who should first be called “Your Majesty”. However, Harry and Meghan do not use their HRH styles for commercial gain in a deal struck when they left their royal roles in 2020.
The Vanity Fair article also quotes insiders as claiming Meghan could be “really, really awful” when things did not go her way at work and that things often went poorly due to the couple’s ‘demands’.
The article also has sources who are said to be neighbours of the couple in Montecito, saying they were ‘entitled’ and ‘disingenuous’. But according to The Times, the Sussexes have dismissed the allegations with a source close to them describing them as ‘distressing’.
Those close to Harry and Meghan also reportedly point to comments made by actress Sharon Stone when they first moved to Montecito back in 2020, who said that the couple would wave to people in the street and had become a “giving, caring, participating part of our community.”
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