Royal editor Rebecca English has described the response from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's office to a letter from King Charles III as "utterly petty." The letter, sent on the King's behalf by the Lord Chamberlain, reiterated that the couple's status remains "akin to private citizens with commercial and charitable interests" and their HRH styles "remain in abeyance."
Speaking on the Daily Mail's Palace Confidential program, English stated that while the letter was a "pretty punchy" communication from the Royal Household, the Sussexes' office exhibited an "extraordinary reaction" that she characterized as entitled.
"Their reaction after the letter emerged was to say we are surprised this has been done," English said. "Well actually, they first tried to say they didn't get any notice of it at all. That is not true. They did. Then they said they didn't get enough notice to make any amendments or clarifications."
English further commented that the Sussexes' office issued specific timings of the notification, stating they received the contents at 1:59 p.m. and replied twenty minutes later inquiring if it had already been disseminated. The letter was released to the media at 3:06 p.m., with Prince Harry himself being contacted at 3:09 p.m. after spending the day at a London studio.
"The only way I can describe the reaction of their office is pettifogging and utterly petty," English stated. "People I have spoken to were like: 'This is the directive of a head of state. Not the head of a family, the head of a state. Why should these two private individuals feel that they have any bearing on what he says?' There's a lot of eyebrow raising at the fact that the Sussexes believe they should have had a chance to change what the King had written."
English suggested that many perceive the Sussexes' reaction as hypocritical, contrasting it with their own public statements and media projects. "What about Oprah? What about Spare? What about the Netflix series, what about the many interviews in which they've taken some really nasty pop shots at the institution as well as individual family members?" she asked. "Where was the notice that the palace got on those? None. I don't think this was the palace's intention, but a lot of people will think, the Sussexes have got a taste of their own medicine."
The royal editor also addressed the Sussex camp's suggestion that the letter's timing was intended to influence an upcoming meeting of RAVEC, the Home Office committee responsible for decisions on taxpayer-funded security. English called this claim "pretty inflammatory" and stated it was "wrong on two counts."
"One, the Sussexes are actually wrong about the timings of the RAVEC meeting and two, the reason why it was put out on a Monday is because it's effectively the start of a new term for royal engagements," English explained. "The Sussexes have made clear they've got a very busy programme of their own engagements, so that they feel they needed to get the record straight before this all kicked off."