The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are on borrowed time with their royal titles amid what a royal expert describes as their ongoing betrayals and growing threat to the royal family. Biographer Tom Bower says the “ruthless” and unprecedented act of stripping Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor of his Duke and Prince titles should serve as a serious warning to the couple about what their future could hold once Prince William becomes monarch.

King Charles ’s younger brother lost his titles and his Royal Lodge home of 20 years following more revelations about his decades-long friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “For Harry, it was an unbelievable shock that the King could strip Andrew of his titles, including Prince, and it changes everything,” he tells the Mirror. “He must really fear that William will strip him, Meghan and the children of their titles when he succeeds to the throne.

“They are on borrowed time and vulnerable now, because I don’t think there is anything they can do to reverse the hurt they have caused Kate and William, and William is still furious.”

Their repeated betrayals of the royal family go far beyond spilling the details of private interactions with Prince William and Kate in Harry’s memoir Spare and, according to Tom, many of them are simply too catastrophic to forgive.

The biggest of all came from their jaw-dropping interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, the year after they stepped down as working royals, and the threat of them throwing similar grenades in the future is simply too big of a risk for William to endure, Tom adds.

“The Sussexes have a real problem because Meghan isn’t making any serious money and nor is Harry really, so the threat is they’ll do something foolish and damaging to the royal family.

“They are uncontrolled, so the danger lies in Meghan maybe writing her own memoir, or doing another interview like Oprah Winfrey. The legacy of that interview cannot be overestimated and Meghan’s accusations that the royal family is racist still echo. Who knows what else she might say in the future?”

Another major sticking point since the couple packed up and made a new life for themselves in Montecito, California, is Meghan’s use of her own royal titles.

When the pair quit as working royals, it was agreed with the Palace that they would stop using their His/Her Royal Highness titles, but they could still hold onto them. At the time, it was likened to the agreement with Andrew, who was then Duke of York.

But when Meghan sent a gift to IT Cosmetics founder Jamie Kern Lima with a card that read, “With the Compliments of HRH The Duchess of Sussex” in April this year, it led to questions about whether she was breaking their agreement.

Various places quoted “sources close to the couple” defending the monogrammed card, arguing that it was part of a personal gift and not related to her As Ever lifestyle business or any other commercial deals.

But Meghan’s interview with Harper’s Bazaar earlier this month reignited the debate, because the journalist included a bizarre-sounding encounter. Writing about her meeting with Meghan, Kaitlyn Greenidge wrote, “When I enter, the house manager announces, ‘Meghan, Duchess of Sussex,’ even though we appear to be the only other two people in the house.”

According to Tom, whose second tell-all book on the Sussexes comes out next year, the title wields a lot of power for Meghan. “It’s a great trading asset, and she uses it ruthlessly and with impunity,” he claims. “It’s nothing to do with the royal family, she couldn’t care two hoots about that, she just uses it to give herself the status she craves.”

He continues, “I don’t think Meghan realised until Harry told her that his uncle had lost his title, that that is a reality. I don’t think she, or any of us, realised they could be so ruthless. I can only imagine she’s now sitting there thinking, ‘What are we going to do?’ Because without the titles, who is she? But she is betraying the royal family every time she uses the title.”

The bombshell statement from Buckingham Palace about King Charles, 77, formally stripping his brother of his “style, titles and honours” came a few weeks after Andrew, 65, relinquished his Duke of York title.

While it stopped short of naming Epstein, who was found dead in his federal prison cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial, it stated, “These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.”

But stripping Meghan and Harry of their titles would not be such an easy decision, Tom says, and it won’t be King Charles’s signature on the papers. “With the Sussexes’ titles, it’s a rock and a hard place for the royal family. The only way to undermine Meghan’s status, although it would look like sour grapes, is to take away her title.

“And it won’t happen during Charles’s lifetime. He will only act on William’s pressure and there’s no reason ostensibly at the moment to strip them of their titles, they haven’t done anything embarrassing, other than using it to trade on. They would have to be very careful about how they do it, but I think it is inevitable.”

READ MORE: Best K-Beauty deals to shop this Black Friday including Beauty of Joseon and Erborian