The Duchess of Sussex used the title HRH on a card sent with a personal gift but not for any public purpose, sources close to her have said.
A video accompanying a podcast shows a gift basket for US cosmetics entrepreneur Jamie Kern Lima, which includes a card saying: “With the Compliments of HRH The Duchess of Sussex.”
When Prince Harry and Meghan stepped down as working royals there was an agreement to stop using HRH, which stands for Her/His Royal Highness, but they still hold the titles.
Sources close to the California-based couple reject that this card was a breach of the agreement struck on their departure from royal duties.
According to sources, the couple do not use HRH in commercial or public settings – and this was only a private use of the title and was for a gift given more than a year ago.
This distinction would mean the HRH title was not being used to promote the jams and food products in Meghan’s As Ever range or her Netflix cookery series.
The card was shown in a video of a podcast hosted by Jamie Kern Lima, who said that when she had been “super-stressed” that Meghan had cheered her up by dropping round some ice cream and “home made strawberry sauce”.
Mrs Kern Lima said the gift showed great empathy and gave something that “adds value to my life”.
Prince Harry and Meghan lost the use of the titles when they stopped being working royals in 2020 and left the UK, initially to move to Canada and then to the US.
“The Sussexes will not use their HRH titles as they are no longer working members of the Royal Family,” said a statement from Buckingham Palace at the time.
They also stopped receiving public funding as they embarked on “the next chapter of their lives”.
But this agreement did not remove the title, it restricted how it was used, with this card suggesting that it has still been used in private.
Another non-working royal, Prince Andrew, also does not use HRH in any official capacity, but still has the title.
The podcast with Jamie Kern Lima also included Meghan discussing her relationship with Prince Harry: “You have to imagine at the beginning, everyone has, like, butterflies.
“Then we immediately went into the trenches together. Yeah, right out of the gate, like six months into dating.
“So now, seven years later, when you have a little bit of breathing space, you can just enjoy each other in a new way, and that’s why I feel like it’s more of a honeymoon period for us now.”
