People: No, the British monarch cannot remove the Sussexes’ titles

Since Monday, the Windsors and the British media have been losing their minds over HRH The Duchess of Sussex. As in, they’re mad that Meghan knows her name and title and she uses both privately. But, but… the Sandringham Summit! But Queen Elizabeth II! They’re so determined to have a meltdown about it that they’re now making a big fuss over Meghan’s “M” monogram, which she designed with a little crown atop the “M.” Per the Daily Mirror, “The Duchess of Sussex sent products from her new lifestyle brand to social media influencers with personalised notes using a royal monogram, in what palace insiders say goes against the late Queen’s wishes.” QEII expressed her wishes about Meghan’s monogram? I don’t think so, but I do know that QEII expressed her wishes in writing about the Sussexes’ security, and King Charles completely disregarded her wishes on that subject, so it looks like “adhering to QEII’s wishes” is not compulsory for anyone.

On Tuesday, the Daily Beast’s Royalist published an exclusive with “friends of Prince William” and various “royal sources” who all threw raging tantrums about Meghan’s HRH. Apparently, when William is king, his first act will be “stripping” Harry and Meghan’s titles. That story was picked up by many outlets, so much so that some outlets even pushed back on it in notable ways. Like People Magazine, which published “No, the British Monarch Can’t Take Away Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Royal Titles.”

Meghan Markle’s use of her “HRH” styling has renewed the conversation about royal titles — and if she and Prince Harry may lose theirs following their step back from their roles. Despite reports that Prince William plans to remove his brother and sister-in-law’s titles when he becomes king, the British monarch’s power on the matter is limited.

Queen Elizabeth granted Harry and Meghan the titles of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on their 2018 wedding day, and the removal of a dukedom would require legislative action through an act of Parliament. However, that has the possibility to change. In recent years, there have been discussions about introducing legislation that would grant the monarch or a parliamentary committee the power to remove royal titles. The “Removal of Titles Bill” was proposed to provide such authority, but it has not been enacted into law.

Despite stepping back from their working royal roles in 2020, Harry and Meghan retained their Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles, which are reflected on the royal family’s website and across their ventures.

Speaking to PEOPLE in a recent exclusive interview, Meghan described “Sussex” as her “shared name” with Prince Harry and their children, Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3. “It’s our shared name as a family, and I guess I hadn’t recognized how meaningful that would be to me until we had children,” she said. “I love that that is something that Archie, Lili, H and I all have together. It means a lot to me.”

While the couple continues to use their Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles, Prince Harry and Meghan agreed not to use their “His/Her Royal Highness” styling after their step back from royal life. However, a photo emerged of a gift basket that Meghan gave to a friend with a note reading, “With compliments of HRH the Duchess of Sussex,” set beneath Meghan’s royal cipher. PEOPLE understands that while they retained the styling, Meghan and Harry do not use their HRH titles for public or commercial ventures. The note, from more than a year ago, was part of a personal gift rather than a business-related endeavor.

According to The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, a professional association for barristers in England and Wales, the “HRH” honorific would be the easiest for a British sovereign to remove.

“At present, the Sussexes (like Prince Andrew, Duke of York) have agreed not to use the appellation while they have abandoned royal duties, but it is clear that it could be withdrawn by the King, a decision that would not be amenable to judicial review,” Master Graham Zellick, a professor of public law and tribunal judge, wrote. “In any case, removal of the honorific on the basis of giving up the role of a working member of the royal family and living abroad could hardly be faulted.”

By birthright, Harry is also a prince. This title is conferred by letters patent and is not usually subject to removal.

[From People]

I appreciate People’s breakdown in the wake of the tantrum in the Daily Beast. I’d just like to point out that when people are screaming “take away their titles,” sometimes they mean the Sussex ducal titles, which as People Mag notes, would basically take an act of Parliament to remove, but sometimes they mean the HRH-style. Like, HRH is conflated with a “title” too. Interestingly enough, Gert’s Royals also got involved:

Photos courtesy of YouTube and Backgrid.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

78 Responses to “People: No, the British monarch cannot remove the Sussexes’ titles”

  1. LadyE says:

    I wasn’t familiar with Gert’s Royals but just looked at their profile from this post. I don’t know if it’s allowed and this will get removed (apologies if not allowed!), but they have another really informative post where they explain that HRH can be changed by Patent letters regarding who is eligible for HRH styling, but that this cannot be used against individual people. Basically, the monarch can change the category (children of son’s of monarch), but not strip individual people. They use Fergie and Diana as an example (HRH patent letters excluded divorcees, Fergie and Diana were never stripped personally of their HRH style). Very informative!!

    https://x.com/Gertsroyals/status/1917692393467400353

    • Becks1 says:

      Gert’s awful. I wouldn’t waste too much time on her profile. She allows a lot of really awful anti-sussex hate (and encourages it) and for some reason people have decided that she’s the be all and end all of royal expertise on social media. I blocked her ages ago when I was still on X.

      I don’t know if its ever been tested to write a letters patent stripping one particular person of HRH, so William may be willing to try. and if it has to be general, its easy enough to word it so that it only applies to Harry and his children.

      • Blogger says:

        Isn’t she another obsessive who suddenly became an “expert”?

        I remember seeing her post letters she’s received from monarchs because she’d send them a birthday card or something. What a weird person. She’s a collector and think she’s now a courtier. Then again some of the rats have less credentials than her so…the circus full of clowns continues.

      • LadyE says:

        I rarely use twitter and have my feed set to “following”, so I’ve never seen Gert’s Royals before. Luckily, based on what you said, I probably won’t ever see it again as I don’t follow her!

        In the comments, there is an interesting exchange about the difficulty of framing a general letters patent to only apply to Harry particularly because it would be forward applying as well. One of the things that is mentioned is that, for domicile in the UK, that this would have to be Commonwealth wide and could not be UK limited. Just thinking of the whole weird reporting of the idea of Trump being invited to join the Commonwealth of Nations!! Lol that would be funny if it messed up their whole plan for Harry!

        I suppose William would be the one to test actually stripping a person, you are right that it’s probably just convention that can be changed. It’s not like there’s a judicial review of HRHs. I don’t know that he would because I think the other royals would object to that custom being established. Though doubtful that William would care about what they think!

      • Tessa says:

        Wallis Simpson was entitled to getting h r h upon marriage to Edward. Edward found out on their wedding day that George 6 issued letters patent so Wallis would not get h r h.

      • Becks1 says:

        @blogger – yup, exactly.

        @LadyE she got a big following because she used to just report the year end totals along with the events during the year in a very fact based way that I admit I liked (just very cut and paste from the court circular) and then she became fairly anti-sussex (maybe she always was) and it came out in her comments. It’s also worth noting she’s relatively young (nothing wrong with that, but the name “gerts royals” always made me think she was an older woman) and is American, so her extreme pro-monarchy stance is a little interesting.

        William can just write a letter patent framing it to only apply to Harry and then george can write another one undoing that or changing how it applies to his children or something. They’re not permanent and unchanging and while you would hope there would be a little more thought and deliberation behind them, I think William is a little bit like Trump in that people are assuming he won’t do something because “thats not how its done” and he doesn’t especially care about that.

      • Blogger says:

        @becks for some reason I thought she was Dutch.

        Oh well. She sounds like that librarian. Obsessing too much over the royals thinking they’re now experts.

      • Alteya says:

        Gert is awful, allowing some of the worst Sussex hate to fester on her site while making money off it. Give her no clicks or engagement, just like paying no attention to laughing stock marlene.

      • Nic919 says:

        Gert is from Michigan and in her 30s or early 40s.

        Also her comments about removing the HRH have not been tested in hundreds of years so we don’t know if they couldn’t target a specific blood royal. HRHs were removed because of members of the saxe coburg Gotha family having an HRH or HH due to Victoria being their grandmother and fighting on the German side in WWI.

      • kelleybelle says:

        I blocked Gert years ago. She became very mouthy with me one day.

    • GMH says:

      If the name feels familiar it is deliberate. She wants you to see her as similar to the authority on issues of titles, Burke’s Peerage.

      • Blogger says:

        I prefer Debretts.

        Unless she has a degree in UK constitutional law, she should stick to her letter writing. I don’t know what actual authority she can claim.

        But I suppose in these times, the unqualified get a lot of influence because of their follower count rather than due to anything else.

    • Lau says:

      The comments under that tweet are all freaking unhinged. I’m getting secondhand embarrassment for these people.

  2. Maxine Branch says:

    I get the hoopla regarding the HRH but at the end of the day, Harry will always be Prince Harry and Meghan is his wife and their children are Prince and Princess. Meghan has publicly stated her worth is not defined by others thoughts of her. Therefore, if she chooses to use HRH, she will continue to do so and she should.

  3. MSJ says:

    Thanks to a bi-racial American woman, examinations of the Royal system and structure has become a ‘global phenomenon’. The Meghan Effect transcends clothing. 🤷🏽‍♀️ Way to go Meghan!!! Legendary!!! 👍

  4. Dee(2) says:

    William needs to just go ahead and do whatever he is going to do regarding all the stylings and titles that they have. He needs to do it because he needs to see that their popularity, the respect they’re giving, and the admiration that they garner has absolutely nothing to do with those titles. He is still telling himself that the only reason that Harry gets invited to speak at these events, that people are excited to see him, that people defer to him and listen to his opinion is because of that title. And he’s told himself the same about Meghan’s success. He refuses to believe that their hard work is why they are respected, because he doesn’t get the same results with his half-hearted copying. Neither does his wife.

    So I really think that they need to be smacked in their faces that Harry and Meghan are still going to be successful and that is not just going to be transferable to him without those titles.
    And then what is he going to do when people still want Harry to come and speak, because they want to hear about how he built Invictus, Travalyst, and all the things that Archewell is doing? Is he going to demand that they strip his UK citizenship? Is he going to demand that the Church of England invalidate their marriage? Nothing is going to get him the results he wants because he is insistent on believing the wrong thing explains their success.

    • Sun says:

      Exactly. It’s a petty attempt to diminish or even humiliate them, but he will ultimately look ridiculous when they smoothly drop all royal mentions from their branding without any change to their businesses, popularity, or lifestyle.

      I can guarantee they are well prepared for this nonsense (mentally as well as practically) and won’t miss a beat. And it will be hilarious to watch the puffed up monarch’s apoplexy. Willy needs so much therapy.

    • Tessa says:

      William cannot invalidate their marriage

      • Blogger says:

        Oh but he’d like to. Just like previous monarchs who sought to invalidate the legitimacy of marriages and children eg Queen Mary over QE1.

      • Tessa says:

        That was when Henry 8 wanted to marry anne boleyn. He got a dispensation by the pope to marry Catherine his brothers w I d o w. And he set up the church of England since the pope would not accept henry saying the marriage was invalid. Mary was recognized as legitimate by the Catholic church. William cannot touch the marriage of harry and Meghan. It would also demonstrate to the world even more that he is racist. There are many divorces and remarriage among the Windsor

      • GMH says:

        Or do anything else. Only the soverign can address these matters if he chooses. William is cos playing monarch for his gossipy friends and retainers but he has no ammo in his toy guns. He is bringing attention to the monarchy and doing more damage to it with his silly leaking than even his Uncle Andy is for having consorted with convicted pedos and trafficking victims.

      • bisynaptic says:

        Presumably, once he’s king, as Head of CoE, he could give it a go.

    • Mrs.Krabapple says:

      What William needs is therapy. These articles make him sound unhinged by his obsession with Harry and Mrghan. They’re gone dude, get over it.

      • Alteya says:

        What william needs is to no longer be in line to be an unelected authoritarian. The uk monarchy needs to be ended while Charlie is still alive.

  5. sevenblue says:

    “Being on the outs with the Royal Family doesn’t qualify.”

    I would say being outs with the monarch or the heir is the family tradition. For centuries, the brothers killed one another for the crown. If someone lost their royal titles every time there was a family fight, nobody would have the titles by now.

    • Tessa says:

      So many. Queen Isabelle launched a rebellion against her husband Edward 2 and their son was placed in the throne

      • sevenblue says:

        😭😭Their family history is full of murderers and they clutch their pearls because Prince Harry didn’t want to work for the family firm anymore.

    • SueBarbri33 says:

      This is it right here. Once you understand that the royal system is premised on dysfunction and disagreement, you begin to understand the protections that are built into the system. Bills of Attainder are extremely rare and are reserved (mostly?) for outright treason. The infrastructure of the royal and aristocratic system cannot be based on the love of the monarch. The House of Lords has a say in this, right? Why would they agree to restructure their own system based on the whims of William the Terrible? What if William wakes up one day and decides he despises the Duke of Whatever as much as he despises Harry?

  6. Jais says:

    So I see the title of the article and the gist that no the monarch cannot remove their titles. It explains why parliament would have to remove the ducal ones. But then at the end the judge Zellick seemed to say that someone, presumably the monarch, removing the honorific, presumably the HRH, bc a RF member lives abroad could hardly be faulted. And finally that the prince title is not usually subject to removal. As in its not usual but William could hardly be faulted if he did so. So huh.

    • Eurydice says:

      Yes, huh. The article starts out with “no” and ends up with “yes.”

      • Jais says:

        Thank you! I’ve been questioning my reading comprehension. So question. From what I can tell it’s just been a conversation about removing the HRH but then the last sentence talks about him being a prince by birthright and how that’s not USUALLY subject to removal. So is that suggesting a removal of not just the hrh but also the prince title? Saying its unusual but not impossible or am I just over reading this people article, lol?

      • Eurydice says:

        @Jais – My answer is, I don’t know. I think the “usually” is there because it really isn’t clear what can or can’t be done. Phillip gave up his “foreign” titles when he married Elizabeth. Edward gave up being king. I think some princess gave up her title when she got married. Various princes “gave up” their titles by being executed. Letters of Patent have been changed.

        It seems to me that William has to really, really, really want to do this and also get Parliament on his side before anything can happen. But wouldn’t that take time out of his busy football schedule?

      • Jais says:

        Technically, he only needs parliament for the ducal titles though. The rest is up to him when he’s king. And I mean I do think he really really wants to do this and dreams about doing it whether he actually will or not. He’s interrupted his sugary anniversary pr cycle to brief Sykes about this. Or its Knauf briefing Sykes. Or whoever.

    • ShazBot says:

      That would be A GIFT to the republicans because the whole point of monarchy is that you don’t get to choose, but if, suddenly, you get to choose based just on not liking people, well…that could result in lots of fun, couldn’t it?

  7. ML says:

    Why were the “Of Michaels” (gave Russians inappropriate access). Cash in suitcases. Panama Papers. Paedrew. Rumors of destroying sinks and throwing “pillows,” boiling multiple eggs in order to eat one or applying toothpaste. A royal convoy (for a non event) at speed killing a helpless old lady. Teddy bear rages…

    Yet time and time again, the Sussexes (who represent none of the criminality or ludicrous behavior mentioned above) are singled out as problematic and need to be divested of either their HRHs or titles. I’d love to know the exact Sandringham Summit details, and I’m curious if they would only technically apply to when the queen was present. Obviously, Charles broke his promises on security and Frogmore.

  8. Judy says:

    I’m glad that Meghan’s team responded to William’s unhinged tirade. He really does look mentally unstable with his wacko rantings. Harry and Meghan act more royal than the rest of them put together.

    • GMH says:

      I disagree. The tabs keep upping the ante in order to get H&M to engage with the brits. Their spokesperson should simply respond with a standard and often repeated statement that theirlongstanding position is NOT to engage with the tabs, trolls because they are a constand source of mis-truth. Period.

  9. somebody says:

    What all of them fail to mention (even People who did actual research into the law, amazingly) is that Harry is 5th in line to their stupid throne. And people FAR below him on the succession list have HRH. And Andrew has HRH. Removing Harry’s because he lives abroad is reasonable? But not reasonable to remove for being a pervert or for being so far down on the list?

  10. Mads says:

    As long as William can’t amend the Letters Patent and revoke the clause automatically granting the style Prince and Princess to grandchildren of the monarch, then I’m happy. Charles is the only one who can, and I don’t think he will do it because that would validate what Meghan said in the Oprah interview.

    I thought that would be the route William would take to hurt Harry and Meghan and Gert’s thread was very informative by pointing out that William cannot create retroactive amendments; they would only apply to his grandchildren and he’s not going to do that.

    • Barb Mill says:

      But wouldn’t that invalidate Charlotte and Louis for prince and princess.

      • Mads says:

        No; Charles could amend the grandchildren of the monarch clause to only allow the children of the heir to have the styling Prince or Princess. That would revoke Archie and Lilibet’s right and Charlotte and Louis are protected under an amendment made by QEII when Kate was pregnant with their second child – George was always entitled because he was the heir’s heir but, before that change, his siblings would have been Lord or Lady.

      • MrsBanjo says:

        @Mads
        It wouldn’t affect Archie and Lili because it wouldn’t be retroactive. It would affect anyone born after. See the LP QEII issued changing the line of succession in case George was born female, making Charlotte the Spare, but not changing anything for the other born-in Windsor women.

      • Nic919 says:

        It would remove the HRH from Anne, Edward, Andrew, Beatrice and Eugenie. And arguably the older relatives who never had a parent as monarch.

  11. Lee says:

    Even if it did happen they should just use it anyway. What can anyone do about it really? It’s just a made up title that only has the meaning society gives it. I can call myself the right honorable Duchess of 9th Avenue and no one could stop me. This whole discussion just proves how little these people contribute to the world with their focus on made up titles, playing soldier boy, and costumes to make them feel important.

    • Blogger says:

      Pretty much. It’s just the whole institutional framework and the public funding that gives them legitimacy. To take it away, it will be like the French Revolution, or a transition to a republic like Nepal did when one of their unhinged members, the Eton-graduate Crown Prince, went on a killing spree – which included his parents the King and the Queen. Sounds like Hamlet.

      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepalese_royal_massacre

    • Libra says:

      Right. What will William do? Send the “title police”? They can call themselves whatever they want. No criminal laws have been broken. Responding to @Lee

    • somebody says:

      Even some from defunct monarchies have gone around calling themselves by titles. And Meghan always has her Nigerian title to use. That would irritate them.

      • Blubb says:

        Greetings from Germany, where there is still some Duke of Saxon-Coburg-Gotha and Princes of Prussia etc.
        And still we are republic.

      • 2131Jan says:

        Also the Greeks abolished their monarchy, but yet some still go around calling themselves Prince/cess of Greece. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

      • Mrs.Krabapple says:

        Yep, I believe Philip was calling himself a prince of Greece, even though that government removed their monarchy completely. So apparently it doesn’t matter what the government says, you can use whatever title you want to. Precedence has been set.

    • Nic919 says:

      There are still people claiming to be king of France.

  12. GoodWitchGlenda says:

    As much as I think these royal titles are so silly, especially since they’ve moved to America, I love that she is able to send the whole royal media ecosystem into a tizzy with one photo. What a bunch of snowflakes they are.

  13. Maja says:

    There doesn’t seem to be anything in writing, and verbal agreements that contain no proposals other than the unilateral “stay here or we’ll finish you off” are questionable anyway. Especially when the powerful party to the agreement won’t tolerate a trusted person in the negotiations, won’t allow witnesses, won’t take the grounds for dismissal seriously and immediately after breaking off the meeting starts taking away the collateral, then taking away the house, stopping all financial support, taking away all employment and dignity. The Sussexes offer was that they would work for the RF without pay, but at the same time they also wanted to do their own thing abroad and support themselves financially. They did not want to use the HRH title for commercial work, which they have never done in all these years. Instead, they are now being prevented by the palaces from even entering the country. All this is the evil behaviour of one of the richest and most powerful families in the world and their press towards a small family that has forced them to struggle to survive on many levels. The Sussexes have not gone under, they have friends and many who like them, but the institutionalised violence against this small family has not stopped.

    • Blogger says:

      The problem with Willie is he thinks he’s Albert of Monaco. He’s not. They beheaded Charles 1 for that. It’s not the Middle Ages anymore with a totalitarian monarch. He might have the press at his heel, but this unseemly behaviour from him is not doing his potential stewardship any favours.

      • Tessa says:

        James II had to go into exile because he was ousted as King and replaced by William and Mary. The succession went to his protestant children from his first marriage (Mary’s husband William was named co-ruler and also reigned as widower. then Anne not his heir from his second marriage who was Catholic), then the Hanovers (descended from a daughter of James I).

  14. Amy Bee says:

    Who’s going to explain why Beatrice and Eugenie and Prince Michael of Kent are allowed to use HRH although they are not working royals? And why Fergie is often referred to as The Duchess of York even though she supposed to be divorced from Andrew.

  15. Hypocrisy says:

    I loved the title of the article and that they probably have KP and WanK in an absolute incandescent rage.. I bet there isn’t an unbroken dog dish anywhere to be seen. This sure made WanKs briefing look so immature and just outright stupid what a joke they have made themselves.

  16. mightymolly says:

    How is it in 2025 we still have so much tolerance for petulant little men? William doesn’t have any real power, but he’s still the living embodiment of his ancestors who beheaded people on a whim.

  17. Blubb says:

    So William might or might not act.
    One thing is sure to me: stripping royals of titels because you choose and because you don’t like your brother… Is the last straw to end the monarchy. Choose and then people will want to choose again.

    • Tessa says:

      He is acting like a petulant brat. I don’t think all people exactly adore this man. to say the least

      • Beverley says:

        I have empathy for his future “subjects” (if that term is correct?) because he’s going to be king, regardless of his actual merit or abilities. Seems like a raw deal.

  18. Lover says:

    As others have said, it’s true that Meghan would not lose any popularity if her HRH/title were stripped. The monarchy highly overestimates the value of their branding, especially to an American from Los Angeles who achieved celebrity and wealth well before marrying into the family. I think her continued use of it in certain personal communications, though, is ironically quite American, as a statement of “You want it? Let’s see you come and take it from me.” When you have something, you don’t yield it up to a bully for the asking, even if it’s just a trifle to you. There’s a principle of resistance in play. Never comply in advance. Make it hard for them. Then even if you lose the thing, you’ve forced them to show their hand; there’s a consequence and a public reckoning. That’s why the monarchy’s asinine legal arguments about living abroad, working vs. non-working, blah blah are pointless. If William strips the titles, the Sussexes will ensure that his real reason — jealousy and petty vindictiveness — is plain for all to see. And it will validate everything Harry said about him in Spare.

    • Tessa says:

      William imo will not get over his loathing of Harry and Meghan. IF he removes the titles ( a big IF since he will come across as racist) he will want to seize Invictus, etc etc etc. He needs counseling.

      • Lover says:

        I agree, he’s trying to fill a bottomless void in his soul and nothing will be enough.

  19. QuiteContrary says:

    This is all so silly. Honestly, don’t the Brits have more important things to worry about?

  20. therese says:

    Now this is not an endorsement of Charles, but when he was the Prince of Wales, he did quite a bit. He did his duties. So he has a rather impressive work history behind him, and is not necessarily known for what he said, but what he did. The current Prince of Wails is not known for his actions, but his growing list of what he intends to do. The only thing one can count on him for right now is his attendance at football games. Men’s football games. He plans on ending homelessness. He plans on further disrespecting his brother and his brother’s wife because he is mad at them. I think William is accruing a rather impressive list himself.

  21. Over it says:

    What exactly will little willy wrinkle do if Harry and Meghan continue to use HRH ? How do we know that when they say HrH they don’t mean her and his Royal hotness or his and her really whatever they want to substitute those letters for . William doesn’t own the right to letters okay / he can just go along and touch the darn grass for f sake . That angry peg head gets on my last nerve

  22. tamsin says:

    Was Meghan not just using her actual monogram that was created when she married Harry? It is indeed her monogram. She didn’t created another one after she and Harry left UK. Does not the HRH goes with the monogram. I wondered why, actually, they continue to use HRH socially, and was a bit surprised. However, Harry finally had to claim his children’s titles for them because it was their heritage, which the petty Windsors didn’t want to acknowledge. The Queen said that they are loved members of the royal family, regardless of their future. Harry is still in line to the throne. Their using their HRH style is sending notice that Charles’ and William’s pettiness and personal vendettas cannot erase their heritage.

  23. Royal7 says:

    I don’t know why people are hating on Gert. She is very factual. She is just blunt, so people take it the wrong way.

    She is not pro or anti-Sussex. She just isn’t falling over to praise the Sussexes. And the Sussex Squad views anything not glowing praise as hate.

    I find Gert’s Royals very knowledgeable. She is willing to critique all the royals.

Commenting Guidelines

Read the article before commenting.

We aim to be a friendly, welcoming site where people can discuss entertainment stories and current events in a lighthearted, safe environment without fear of harassment, excessive negativity, or bullying. Different opinions, backgrounds, ages, and nationalities are welcome here - hatred and bigotry are not. If you make racist or bigoted remarks, comment under multiple names, or wish death on anyone you will be banned. There are no second chances if you violate one of these basic rules.

By commenting you agree to our comment policy and our privacy policy

Do not engage with trolls, contrarians or rude people. Comment "troll" and we will see it.

Please e-mail the moderators at cbcomments at gmail.com to delete a comment if it's offensive or spam. If your comment disappears, it may have been eaten by the spam filter. Please email us to get it retrieved.

You can sign up to get an image next to your name at Gravatar.com Thank you!

Leave a comment after you have read the article

Save my name and email in this browser for the next time I comment