Why the Palace will be monitoring Prince Harry’s new job ‘very closely’

Palace officials are expected to be watching “very closely” as Prince Harry starts his new job as Chief Impact Officer for Better Up, to see if the Duke is “trading” off of his royal status.

• Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down as senior royals last year 
• As part of the deal, they are not meant to trade off their royal name and were banned from using ‘Sussex Royal’ branding last year
• It follows royal news that Kate Middleton has released a stunning new photograph to reflect on the pandemic 

Prince Harry has landed his first job as Chief Impact Officer for BetterUp - a mental health services start up, which uses technology and science to empower people to become the best version of themselves. 

And while fans of the Duke are thrilled that he’s landed his first "proper" job since quitting the royal family, palace insiders say The Firm will be watching “very closely” to check he is not trading off the Monarchy’s brand. 

Speaking on True Royalty TV’s The Royal Beat - available from 26th March - Daily Mirror’s Royal Editor, Russell Myers said, “There is the argument that if he is ‘Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex’ in all the published materials for [BetterUp], is that trading off the royal brand which they said they wouldn’t do to uphold the values of The Queen? 

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“So it is very debatable at the moment. People at the Palace will be watching this very, very closely.”

But, according to BetterUp’s CEO, Alexi Robichaux, Prince Harry is dropping the formalities at his new gig and will simply be known as 'Harry'. 

"He's a colleague, he's a partner, and so we address him as Harry," the startup's CEO told Reuters. "Obviously there's a stateliness and he's very dignified, but he is very accessible, very genuine, very humble."

As part of their agreement in stepping down as senior royals, the Queen stripped Prince Harry of his honorary titles, including his military accolades. 

While no doubt upsetting for Prince Harry, Russell said it’s a case of setting precedent for other members of The Firm - that Harry cannot pick and choose what he is part of.

“I can’t see that he can [keep his military titles]. He can’t be ‘one foot in and one foot out’. They are honorary titles and you need to be a member of the working Royal Family and they [Harry and Meghan] have chosen their path.”