Fact-checking: Lady Louise is not the new Duchess of Sussex, where are these rumours coming from?

As the beginning of 2024 seems to be a dramatic time for the Royal Family, the rumour about Lady Louise, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh’s daughter, becoming the new Duchess of Sussex was not something we saw coming. A royal expert has even gone so far as to say it's unlikely she'll end up as a working royal.

Indeed, in the days leading up to the start of the Duchess rumour, headlines were saturated with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s trip to Canada for an Invictus Games event. The couple was also in the spotlight due to their brand new website and an exclusive interview between Prince Harry and Good Morning America.

As these rumours continue to make the rounds on social media, let’s try to see who started them.

The Duchess rumours

According to a video posted on Youtube on Wednesday 14 February, King Charles made the decision to ‘transfer’ the title of Duchess of Sussex to ‘his niece’ Lady Louise. As most people know, the current Duchess of Sussex is Meghan Markle who received the title when she married Prince Harry.

The Dukedom of Sussex was a title given to Prince Harry by his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, as a sort of wedding gift. The video, published by a Youtube channel called Royal Review, continues to explain that the announcement was made directly by Buckingham Palace.

The video, narrated by an AI generated voice, claimed the reasons behind King Charles’ supposed decision to take away the Dukedom of Sussex from Prince Harry and Meghan. The voice starts with saying that having Lady Louise as the holder of the title would ‘benefit the monarchy and the country’. The voice continued:

Firstly he wished to acknowledge Lady Louise’s loyalty and dedication to the Crown. (...) She had also displayed a genuine interest in the causes and charities supported by her grandparents. Furthermore, Lady Louise had been a source of comfort and support for her parents during a time when they had taken on increased responsibilities.

Secondly, King Charles aims to restore the dignity and reputation of the Sussex titles which had been tarnished by Harry and Meghan’s actions and statements.

Lastly, King Charles sought to prevent further controversy and conflict surrounding the titles.

According to the video, the King wanted to make it very ‘clear that they no longer held a place of role within the Royal Family or in the United Kingdom.’

The video also states that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle issued ‘a brief statement’ wishing Lady Louise the best.

The reach of this rumour

The video published by Royal Review has already reached hundreds of thousands viewers and has been relegated by several TikTok accounts. Those videos have also gathered a significant amount of traction. For instance, when @british_daily posted the news to their account, their video was seen over 1 million times... and that was in just three days.

Meghan Markle: did she really lose her Duchess of Sussex title?

The answer is no. That video and channel seems to be the source of those rumours, further research makes it really clear that they have no solid proof of what they are suggesting.

The video in itself is filled with errors. For instance, the voice explains that King Charles ‘ascended the throne in September 2023’. We all know that’s not true, especially considering the fact that he held his coronation in May 2023 and that Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022.

Moreover, the video talks about Lady Louise as if she was a working royal however that is not true. Though she is present at events such as the coronation and the jubilee, she isn’t a working member of The Firm. She is currently focusing on her studies at St Andrew’s University in Scotland. Royal expert Jennie Bond has said:

I’m doubtful that Lady Louise would ever become a full-time working royal, partly because I’m not sure she would want to, and also because The King and William know only too well that the monarchy has to be increasingly accountable to the taxpayer.

Removing a peerage

The video also alleges the Palace made the announcement however there is no such thing on the website or on their official social media. The same goes for the Sussexes’ supposed statement.

Finally, having a royal title removed is a very serious thing – the reporting of this supposed story would have made headlines were it true. Also, for a title of peerage (Dukedom in the instant) to be removed to monarch needs to go through Parliament. As the House of Lords Library explains:

However, as described in Gadd’s Peerage Law, once the Crown has granted a peerage it is “very difficult to deprive the holder of it”.

Adding,

A peerage can only be removed by an act of parliament. The most recent act that did this was the Titles Deprivation Act 1917 (TDA).

That was done against ‘enemies of the UK’ in the First World War. The House of Lords Library also makes it very clear that ‘it is unlikely’ the provisions of the TDA would be used today.

Read more:

⋙ Meghan Markle: The Duchess' engagement ring returns after months of repair

⋙ Meghan Markle: Here’s why the Duchess wears three wedding rings

⋙ Meghan Markle: As the Duchess announces new podcast, here's what went wrong with Spotify

Sources:

Royal Review on Youtube

House of Lords Library

Express: Lady Louise Windsor will 'never be' a working royal as Firm fear 'public backlash'