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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Duke and Duchess of Sussex 'downgraded' on official Royal Family website

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been downgraded on the Royal Family’s official website, as their information pages were dramatically condensed.

The couple, who stepped down as working royals four years ago, have until now had their own lengthy biography pages on the website, along with other senior members of the monarchy.

Harry’s page ran to more than 2,600 words, while Meghan’s was around 1,290.

They went into fine detail about the couple’s early life and education, careers, and charity and conservation work.

But the two dedicated sections have been replaced with just one 650-word page entitled The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. It directs those who want to learn more about the couple to visit their separate website.

It sits near the bottom of the Royal Family’s website, beneath the sections for the Duke of Gloucester and Princess Alexandra.

(Getty Images for the Invictus Games)

It is above only the page of Prince Andrew, the scandal-mired uncle of Prince Harry.

The former, lengthy profile pages were still active as of Sunday evening, but had been replaced by Tuesday morning. MailOnline reports they were replaced on Monday night.

The Duke of York’s page has also been cut back from 1,200 words to around 630 words.

The changes come amid a time of heightened scrutiny of the Royal Family, amid a furore over the release of edited photos.

It also comes just days after Meghan launched a new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, on Instagram on the same evening Harry and Prince William appeared separately to speak at the Diana Legacy Award event in London.

Meanwhile Prince Andrew, Duke of York, stepped down from public life in late 2019 after a disastrous BBC interview about his friendship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The late Queen stripped Andrew of all his royal titles, including the use of HRH, and military affiliations, in 2022, as he faced a civil sex abuse case in a US court brought by Virginia Giuffre, who claims she was one of Epstein's alleged sex trafficking victims.

Andrew denied the allegations made against him.

Later in 2022, he reached an out-of-court settlement, in which he paid Ms Giuffre a reported £12 million. Andrew claims never to have met Ms Giuffre, and paid the settlement without admitting any liability.

(PA Wire)

The changes come amid an ongoing rift between Harry and Meghan, who live in Montecito, California, and the rest of the royal family.

Harry made controversial claims about Charles, Camilla, William and Kate in his and Meghan’s Netflix documentary, and his 2023 memoir Spare.

In 2021, they also unleashed a set of bombshell revelations in their interview with Oprah Winfrey, including allegations that senior royals had made comments about the colour of their son Prince Archie’s skin, prior to his birth.

In November, the King and Princess of Wales were named as the two senior royals who reportedly made the remarks.

Harry made a brief visit to see his father, King Charles, last month following the monarch’s cancer diagnosis.

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