The titles of Duke of York and Duke of Sussex may not be passed on to future royals due to negative associations with the current holders, a royal commentator has told GB News.
Prince Andrew and Prince Harry were bestowed their respective dukedoms upon their marriages.
However, Prince Harry remains estranged from the Royal Family following his and Meghan Markle’s decision to step down as working royals and move permanently to the US in 2020.
**ARE YOU READING THIS ON OUR APP? DOWNLOAD NOW FOR THE BEST GB NEWS EXPERIENCE**
Prince Andrew dramatically fell out of public favour after questions were raised about his friendship with the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and a subsequent disastrous Newsnight interview in 2019.
It has been suggested the Royal Family may retire the titles of Duke of Sussex and Duke of York after Prince Harry and Prince Andrew
|GETTY
It is for these reasons that veteran royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams believes the titles of York and Sussex will remain dormant for some time.
“There probably will never be another Duke of York. There probably will never be another Duke of Sussex,” he declared.
The commentator explained that the issue stems from the titles being “linked with an individual” whose association could be seen as a reputational risk for the Royal Family.
“They (The media) will still be using that Newsnight interview in 50 years,” Fitzwilliams claimed.
Fetzwilliams felt the York tittke's association with Prince Andrew's fall from grace would mean it would lay dormant for some time
|GETTY
Using a historical precedent, the commentator predicted: “There won’t be another Duke of Windsor.”
The Duke of Windsor was the title held by King Edward VIII, who infamously abdicated the throne in 1936 to marry American divorcée Wallis Simpson.
Fitzwilliams suggested the title and other things associated with King Edward, such as his Fort Belvedere manor, would always be treated with caution.
“There's no way (any of) that is going to be associated with senior working royals,” the commentator reckoned.
King Edward VIII's abdication to marry Wallis Simpson has seen his title, Duke of Windsor, disappear from royal use
|GETTY
Providing another example, Fitzwilliams pointed out: “Harry wasn't made Duke of Clarence.
“The reason he wasn't is that the Duke of Clarence was notorious in the 19th century, and also he's identified with the character Richard III.”
Prince Albert Victor, the last Duke of Clarence and Queen Victoria’s grandson, died in 1892 at the age of 28.
His short life was subject to much speculation concerning his mental health, sexuality and even widely debunked claims he was the true identity of Jack the Ripper.
LATEST ROYAL NEWS:
The commentator did not believe it was 'foreseeable' that Prince Andrew would be stripped of his title
|GETTY
George Plantagenet, the Duke of Clarence in the late 1400s, repeatedly switched sides during the War of the Roses, which saw him unsympathetically immortalised in Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Part 3 and Richard III.
Looking ahead, Fitzwilliams said the title of Duke of York will stay with Prince Andrew, as any move by Parliament to remove it is not “foreseeable” in the near future.
“What happens in another reign and how it's handled, I don't know,” he concluded.