Tom Sykes is doing his Royalist Substack full-time now, and he’s had some interesting exclusives, straight from sources close to Scooter King William. That was the case in Sykes’ Daily Beast days as well – his sources are consistently Scooter-adjacent, let’s say. Well, in one exclusive, Sykes was going on and on about how Prince William was claiming credit for Prince Andrew’s title-demotion, all because King Charles is “dying” and William is regent in all but name. Sykes also noted: When William “ascends to the throne, I am told he will issue new letters patent (as royal executive orders are known) to strip Andrew (and Harry, Archie, Lilibet, Eugenie, and Beatrice) of their HRH and Princely titles.” Perhaps sensing that this was a bigger exclusive than “William demands credit for Andrew’s demotion,” Sykes then spun out this Letters Patent story into a second exclusive:
Prince William will strip Prince Andrew, along with all other non-working royals, of their HRHs and princely titles when he ascends to the throne, friends and allies of the Prince have told The Royalist. The dramatic change will be effected by an executive royal order known as “letters patent” ratified by Parliament in the early weeks of the reign of King William V. It will remove princely titles not just from Andrew but also from Beatrice, Eugenie, Harry, Archie, and Lilibet. The children of Prince Edward and Princess Anne have never used princely titles.
Meghan and Harry will also see their dukedoms and HRHs formally revoked by the new king, the source said. Meghan continues to use her HRH despite being ordered not to do so by the late Queen Elizabeth II.
A source said William’s own children may have their titles informally “parked” until they become adults and can decide for themselves if they want to be full-time working royals or lead lives as private citizens. The source said they are never addressed as prince or princess in any situation by their parents, teachers, staff, or family.
As an ally of William’s told The Royalist: “On Wednesday, the king’s office was saying that removing the dukedom would be a completely lame and ineffectual gesture unless you took away the prince title as well. On Friday, it’s suddenly the other way round, and persuading him to drop the duke title, without even taking it away, is being held up as a triumph of the king’s steely will. His operation is a mess.”
Another friend of William’s, who told The Royalist about the plan to remove a huge swathe of princely titles, said: “It should have been done by Charles this week, but William knows he doesn’t have the strength because of his illness. William is understanding of his father’s situation. William won’t be afraid to take the next step.”
They added: “William thinks about Queen Margrethe of Denmark a lot.”
In 2022, Queen Margrethe II removed princely titles from four of her grandchildren—Nikolai, Felix, Henrik, and Athena. The Queen said the decision was made to allow her grandchildren greater freedom to shape their own lives.
The intel gathered on this issue by The Royalist meshes with a report in the London Sunday Times today that Andrew will be excluded from William’s coronation, that he considers his uncle a “threat” to the monarchy, and is deeply concerned about the message Andrew’s presence at royal events sends to victims of sexual abuse.
While this is not the most important thing to note, I can’t help thinking that William’s coronation is going to be really pitiful. He openly loathes the pomp, he hates most of his family, and he hates to work. He’ll probably demand that they pop the crown on his egg head in front of literally twos of people, and then straight from his coronation, he’ll head to one of his castles and no one will see him for weeks.
As for William’s promises to strip almost everyone of their HRHs, ducal titles, what have you… so be it. He’s been threatening that for years, specifically with the Sussexes. At this point, it makes no difference to Harry and Meghan or their children. I find it bizarre that William is so set on “punishing” his niece and nephew, considering he’s only met Archie once or twice and he’s never even been in the same room as Lili. But the Scooter King’s Letters Patent will just show how idiotic the whole thing really is. Either it matters that you’re born into royalty or it doesn’t. Either all of QEII’s descendents have magic royal blood or they don’t. Make up your mind.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images and Kensington Palace.
