On Monday, the Palace informed the media that only working members of the royal family who hold military ranks will be allowed to wear uniforms during the four funeral services next week – with one key exception. Prince Andrew, Duke of York, will be allowed to wear formal dress to an event. Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, will attend all events in plain clothes. Here’s what’s going on and why it’s raising some eyebrows. There are two non-working members of the royal family: Prince Andrew and Prince Harry. Both are military veterans. Andrew served in the Royal Navy for 22 years and fought in the Falklands War as a helicopter pilot. Harry served in the British Army for 10 years (including two tours of active duty in Afghanistan) and rose to the rank of Captain. There are two very different reasons for their departures from royal life. Andrew was forced to step down as a working member of the royal family after a devastating interview with the BBC in November 2019 in which he tried to defend his long-standing friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and deny allegations that he had sexually assaulted one of Epstein’s victims. Andrew was officially stripped of his honorary military ranks, patronage and use of the title of ‘HRH’ (His Royal Highness) in January after the woman sued him for sexual assault in US federal court. (Andrew, who has always maintained his innocence, settled the case for a multi-million dollar settlement.) Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (aka Meghan Markle) chose to step back from official royal life in January 2020, later saying that the intense (and, they said, racist and unfair) media coverage information and lack of support from members of the royal family and the establishment prompted the move. This decision saw them lose their official royal orders, the use of their ‘HRH’ titles and, in Harry’s case, his honorary military ranks – most notably his title of captain general in the Royal Marines. (The duke reportedly took this loss hard and even successfully sued the Daily Mail over articles claiming he was out of touch with the Royal Marines after being forced to relinquish his role as master of ceremonies.)
