Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been demoted. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s pictures and biographies on the Royal Family’s website have been pushed nearly all the way to the bottom of the page and now rank only above Prince Andrew, who was banished from his royal duties after being tied to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2019. The change appears to have taken place before Sept. 27.
The shift came as Buckingham palace continues to update its website following Queen Elizabeth‘s death on Sept. 8. Her profile has been completely removed from the “Members of The Royal Family” page, although she has a whole section of the website dedicated to her as of this writing. Meghan, 41, and Harry, 38, were previously listed in the 10th and 11th spots on the page below the queen’s children, including Andrew, but above her cousins.
The new order of the page shows King Charles III in the top left corner and Kate Middleton, now the Princess of Wales, next to him in the upper right corner. Below Charles is his wife Queen Consort Camilla and below Kate is Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, the youngest child of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, who died in April 2021. Below Camila is her stepson Prince William, who adopted the Prince of Wales title after his grandmother’s passing. Following Prince William is Edward’s wife, Sophie, Countess of Wessex, and Anne, Princess Royal, the only daughter of Elizabeth and Philip. Elizabeth’s cousins, the Duke of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent and their wives follow behind. Meghan, Harry, and Andrew end the list.
Prince Harry and Meghan stepped down from their royal duties in Jan. 2020 and moved to California to start their own life on their own terms, although they were adamant about their unwavering support of the queen. Since then, they have only been to the UK a handful of times amidst the ongoing tension between the family members.
Harry and Meghan’s new place within the family was exemplified several times as they stayed in London to mourn the loss of the queen. First, they were both reportedly invited and then uninvited to attend the queen’s pre-funeral reception, where heads of state from all around the world were invited to pay their respects. Plus, Harry was not allowed to wear his military uniform at any of the mourning events until his father gave him special permission to wear it at a family vigil before the funeral on Sept. 19, where he just wore his medals, but not the full uniform.