Anderson Cooper Wants to Know Why Prince Harry Didn’t Give Up His Titles When He Stepped Down as a Senior Royal

Anderson Cooper and Prince Harry discussed a range of pressing topics during their sit-down interview for CBS’s 60 Minutes, which aired on Sunday. The CNN anchor asked the Duke of Sussex one question that many royal followers have found themselves asking as well: Why haven’t Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, given up their titles since stepping away from the royal family?

In the middle of the interview segment, Cooper brought up the subject of Harry and Markle choosing to step away from their royal duties three years ago. Since then, the royal couple has moved to California, where they live together with their two children, Archie and Lilibet.

Chris Jackson - Pool/Getty Images

Despite their departure, the pair still uses their royal titles (Duke and Duchess of Sussex) which were given to them by the late Queen Elizabeth II. When Cooper asked why they don’t renounce their titles, Harry simply responded, “And what difference would that make?”

When pressed on why things have been so public rather than private, Harry continued, “Every single time I’ve tried to do it privately there have been briefings and leakings and planting of stories against me and my wife.”

In January 2020, the royal couple announced that they would be stepping down as the senior members of the royal family.

In a statement shared on their joint Instagram account, they wrote: “After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution. We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen.”

With the arrival of Harry’s tell-all book on Tuesday, something tells us this won’t be the last big revelation this week...

Stay up-to-date on every breaking royal family story by subscribing here.

Prince Harry Calls Princess Catherine the ‘Sister He’d Never Had and Always Wanted’ in New Memoir