Following their removal from official duties, the Queen has been urged to reconsider Prince Harry and Prince Andrew’s positions in her Council of State. The Duke of Sussex stepped down in 2020 with wife Meghan Markle to pursue a life outside of the Royal Family, while the Duke of York was forced into early retirement due to public outrage over his legal problems. While neither is officially serving on Her Majesty’s behalf anymore, they are still thought to hold the title of Counsellor of State, which entitles them to carry out duties for the Queen in her absence or illness.

The debate over Harry and Andrew’s positions was reignited after Buckingham Palace announced that the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge will be embarking on several tours to commemorate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in the coming months.

Both royals will be away from the UK for at least one day in March, with Prince Charles visiting Ireland and Prince William visiting the Bahamas.

“Charles would be in Ireland so, obviously, he could come back in an emergency,” editor Richard Eden told Palace Confidential.

“However, as the law stands, Prince Andrew or Prince Harry would have to step in, which is not right.” That must be changed.”

He claimed that the Palace had so far avoided broaching the subject with Prince Harry about his role in order to avoid “poking the bear” at a time when relations between the Duke and the Royal Family were still strained.

“We had Robert Hardman on the show recently, and he was basically arguing they don’t want to offend anyone,” Mr Eden continued.

“They don’t want to poke Prince Harry’s bear, but this is beyond that.” This is against the law, and it is serious.”

Sarah Vine, a columnist, also stated that both Prince Andrew and Prince Harry no longer meet the requirements to serve as Counsellors of State.

“You just need to take them off the rota,” she explained. Remove Andrew from the roster because…Andrew.

“And they need to remove Harry from the rota because he’s not in the country and isn’t a resident here, despite the fact that he still has Frogmore.”

Indeed, the Duke of Sussex has confirmed that he and his family will not be returning to the UK next month to attend Prince Philip’s memorial service.

According to royal commentator Omid Scobie, a spokesperson for Harry and Meghan confirmed that they would not be visiting the UK, but that the Duke would be visiting the Queen soon.

“A spokesperson for the Sussexes confirms that Prince Harry will not be returning to the UK for the Service of Thanksgiving for the Life of Prince Philip on March 29,” Mr Scobie wrote on Twitter.