Meghan and Prince Harry have acknowledged they may need to change their established brand ‘Sussex Royal’ if the Queen doesn’t allow them to use the word ‘royal’ after they step down as senior members of the family. Some experts have argued the rebranding process will cost the Duke and Duchess of Sussex a huge sum, after they have trademarked several items, created a new website and gained 11.2 million followers on their Instagram page. 

But one marketing expert, Piers Bracher, believes dropping ‘royal’ from their brand name won’t impact at all the popularity of Meghan and Harry because of the way they built their popularity.

The deputy managing director at Four Communications, a marketing company, told The Times: “They don’t need to use it.

“They are very well known and liked in the United States.

“If I were them then the sensible thing to do would be to take off that word voluntarily. 

“The spotlight is even further on them.

“Rather weirdly they’ve increased their brand value because of it.”

Mr Bracher said both the Cambridges and the Sussexes have built successful brands throughout the past years.

However, he added, while Kate and Prince William look as reliable and classic as department store John Lewis, Meghan and Harry are more like Marmite, the popular British spread made of yeast.

Speaking about Meghan and Harry’s ‘Marmite brand’, Mr Bracher continued: “You get talking about it either way.

“They have an enormous amount of sympathy from people in or below their age group but for those older than them the word ‘tiresome’ springs to mind.

“If you look at their combined revenue generation you’d find it’s billions because they have the ability to create vast amounts of generosity among rich people.”

The rebranding, which according to Mr Bercher could consist of turning ‘Sussex Royal’ simply into ‘Sussex’, could exacerbate the relationship between Harry and William.

He said: “By creating the Marmite brand they’ve made something more powerful, which will irritate a lot of other people, including his brother.”

Meghan and Harry will officially step down as senior royals on March 31, Buckingham Palace announced on Wednesday evening.

The couple’s spokesperson acknowledged that the use of the word ‘royal’ in their brand was under review, saying: “As the Duke and Duchess are stepping back as senior members of the royal family, and will work towards financial independence, use of the word ‘royal’, in this context, needed to be reviewed.

“Discussions are still ongoing, however, a change will be announced alongside the launch of their new non-profit organisation”. 

Former Royal Press Secretary Dickie Arbiter said the Sussexes “jumped the gun” when they decided to step back as working royals while continue to use their original brand.

He told BBC News: “There are very strict rules governing the use of the word royal in terms of commercial.

“You can’t do it, they’re not going to be allowed to do it, nobody else is allowed to do it.

“And they’re going to have to think about rebranding.

“Already it’s probably cost them a lot of money and rebranding is going to cost them even more money. 

“They’re going to have to do something with their website which is already up as Sussex Royal.

“They’ve jumped the gun a bit on this one and they haven’t sought advice, all they had to do was contact their offices at Buckingham Palace and say ‘can we do this?’.

“The office would have said ‘no, you can’t do it’ and they wouldn’t have had to spend much money.

“But they’ve seemed to have done things their own way without consultation.”     

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