Meghan Markle uses her Royal Family title as her power move even after Megxit: ‘It adds weight’

A week after Meghan Markle's pal showed off gifts from ‘HRH The Duchess of Sussex’, the representatives of the Suits actor jumped into instant action to deny that she used her HRH title for commercial purposes.

In what royal experts are seeing as a “power move” on the duchess's part, a source close to Meghan said the title was not used for “commercial purposes” but for a “personal gift.”

As part of their Megxit negotiations with the Palace, when the Sussexes stepped down as senior working royals of the British royal family, Meghan and the Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry, agreed to stop using “Her Royal Highness” and “His Royal Highness” at the end of March 2020.

However, The Sun's Matt Wilkinson claimed that it has given away Meghan's “power move”.

“She's kind of almost been caught out because I have a theory on this that maybe she hadn't seen the edit or she wasn't aware this picture was going to be shown or maybe her staff didn't realise the gravity or we'd end up talking about it lots,” he said.

To this, a Public Relations expert, Mark Borkowski, added: “It's clearly social capital. I mean, I think that I'm sure her PA uses it to ensure that she gets the top table at a restaurant. Of course, it adds weight, and she knows it adds weight.”

Borkowski said the title gives a sort of “subliminal aura” that Meghan still has links with the British Royal Family, “which is a very, very, very powerful brand globally, particularly in America”.

“This is a power game. And no more than in America, where that status is so important because without that status, she's just another sort of B-lister in a continent absolutely populated with celebrities,” he added.

How did the HRH row erupt?

A controversy brewed over Meghan’s use of HRH after she sent a gift basket to make-up entrepreneur Jamie Kern Lima last year, with a monogrammed card reading: “With Compliments of HRH The Duchess of Sussex”.

Kern Lima showed an image of the present in footage of her podcast interview with Meghan, which she released on Monday.