Is it time that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex became plain Mr and Mrs Windsor?

They seem so full of anger for the institution that gives them their status, why not do the decent thing and renounce their titles? If not, shouldn’t parliament give them a helping hand?

First, a declaration. I am not interested in attacking Harry or Meghan per se.  Personally, I feel increasing sorry for them. I worry what happens when even Californians get bored of their tales of victimhood. I worry for Harry especially.

Both Harry’s book and the Netflix narcissism of the Duke and Duchess’s recent series tell the story of two privileged people desperate to be victims. They are not. When I served in the army, I met victims: of violence, or rape, of murder, people who have been forced from their homes at gunpoint. These people are victims. Multi-millionaires like Harry and Meghan are not. In fact, they belittle the term.

The problem for all of us is that Harry is not just yet another public-school boy hanging around Hollywood with a former actress girlfriend. As a member of the Royal Family, he’s part of Britain’s constitution.

If Harry and Meghan had renounced their titles and gone to live quietly, there would have been huge sympathy for their decision. We all know what he has been through. If they have given up their titles to campaign against the institution of the Royal Family, there may have been some anger, but there would have been respect for their stance – at least it would have been consistent. But what is not worthy of respect are those who clings to titles and the status they bring whilst trashing the institutions and family that gave those titles to them. Does Harry think he became a Duke on merit?

But why is this a matter for parliament or parliamentarians? The political story of our nation is the flow of power from Kings and Queens to parliament. Although parliamentarians are summoned to sit at Her Majesty’s Pleasure, let’s be under no illusion, parliament – and specifically the House of Commons – has been the power in the land since we beheaded King Charles I at the end of the English civil war and then deposed his son, Charles II. So we shape the monarchy that we believe is in our nation’s interests. Harry is not just a family matter.

So I and others in parliament are looking at options to amend the old 1917 Titles Deprivation Act, to allow parliament to signal to the Privy Council, the ancient royal advisory council, to remove titles from members of the royal family or peers.

This is not an attack on the monarchy, but a defence of the Royal Family and a way to ensure that we continue to have a successful constitutional monarchy, which has served this country so well.

Our late Queen, God bless her, knew that as she shaped society, so society shaped her. It was a symbiotic relationship. Most of us see that integrity in the King, in William and Kate, and also in the hard work and diligence of Princess Anne and Prince Edward. We often see them on the Isle of Wight, my constituency, engaging with our charities and voluntary bodies. They don’t seek publicity or pretend they are hard done by; they just want to make a difference.

I believe what Harry and Meghan are saying about our society and the Royal Family is an injustice. One of the things that most offends is the implication that the Royal Family and the UK are inherently racist, apparently fuelled by Brexit.

In reality, the UK is one of the most successful examples of a multi-racial society on earth. The monarchy has done remarkable work over decades in reaching out to and speaking to Britons with commonwealth ancestry. The monarchy is an institution that above all others in our nation has transcended race and class.

Our nation isn’t perfect, but it is one of the best ones going. We have a good and just society. Our institutions are important and worth defending.

Harry and Meghan, if you want to use royal titles, please respect the institutions, but don’t trade on titles whilst trashing the institution and nation that gave them to you. Be honest and give up your titles, or eventually you may find parliament takes them from you.