Expert Claims Prince Harry and Meghan Markle May Soon Be 'Replaced' by Two Other Popular Royals
It has been five years since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down as senior working royals and moved to the US. The couple have, however, kept their HRH titles and still go by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Commenting on the hole they left in the monarchy, royal experts recently argued that another royal couple, who have gained significant popularity in the recent past, may replace the House of Sussex.
The two royals are none other than the Prince’s youngest uncle and aunt, Prince Edward and Duchess Sophie. Royal experts, on The Sun’s Royal Exclusive show, debated whether a replacement by the House of Edinburgh over the House of Sussex remains a possibility. Giving his two cents on the same, royal expert Chris Ship claimed that rather than replacing the Sussexes, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh may prove to be an additional resource for the monarchy. He said, “I don't think replace like for like. I think they could be an additional resource for Buckingham Palace.” Ship argued that Edward and Sophie were not young enough to do so. He asserted, “Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, now, recently celebrated his 60th birthday, so they're not spring chickens either. But I take your point that they are that sort of generation in between William and Kate and the King and Queen.”
Another expert, Matt Wilkinson, chimed in to claim that the House of Cambridge might be what the Palace needs after the Sussexes' exit. He said, “We currently have the King and the Queen, and we have the Waleses. The Yorks are excommunicated, the Sussexes have disappeared. We don't actually have many working rules. We need Sophie and Edward.” Edward and Sophie were recently seen at two major royal events, the Order of the Garter and Trooping the Color, standing in support of the King and Queen. According to the Daily Express, their popularity among the public has also increased as they were dubbed the fourth hardest-working royals, carrying out 257 engagements in 2024.
After Sophie’s recent successful outing with Prince William at the Royal Cornwall Show, experts could not stop praising her. Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told the Daily Mail that Sophie is where Markle could have been if she had not left the royal family. The expert added, “Meghan is struggling to be an influencer, Sophie has influence in ways that really matter, which Meghan could have been.” Comparing the two Duchesses, Fitzwilliam further opined, “Meghan has always boasted about how she promotes feminism. Yet contrast the occasional speech she makes in comfortable surroundings with the remarkable work of Sophie who actually visits areas of the world such as Sudan and Chad which have been devastated by war and attempts to comfort the women who are victims of rape and exploitation.”