Prince Harry, Meghan Markle new website faces ‘legal storm’ over commercial use

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle recently launched a fresh website named Sussex.com, prompting an expert to suggest that would likely have strongly disapproved at Buckingham Palace.

The couple's latest online venture comes on the heels of their initial SussexRoyal.com launch back in 2020, which coincided with their departure from both the Royal Family and the United Kingdom.

In the wake of criticism directed at the Sussexes for their new site, Royal commentator Michael Cole expressed that it probably wouldn't have been well-received within the confines of Buckingham Palace.

Speaking to TalkTV hosts Kevin O’Sullivan and Alex Phillips on CrossTalk today, Mr Cole spoke about the new website when he said: "This will have gone down terribly badly at Buckingham Palace. We’re not quite sure how they intend to use this new website but it will be watched very very closely because any attempt to use it for commercial purposes will be frowned upon certainly in this country. It’s certainly just not on and it’s not what you do.

"I think it’s another example of them being slightly tin-eared. If they want to build bridges, this is possibly the worst possible way they could do it, and it won’t go down well."

Elsewhere on the show, he said: "The first thing to be said about this is that it is illegal to use a royal title or the name of a royal residence for commercial purposes," he began.

Mr Cole added: "Now we will remember that when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex scooted off, first of all to Canada and then California which was their intended destination all the time, perhaps Meghan’s, it was made clear that they would retain the honorific titles Her Royal Highness, His Royal Highness - these three letters that are very big in royal circles but they were not to use them for any purpose."