Prince Harry asks to be introduced as just 'Harry' at final event as senior royal

POOL/AFP via Getty Images
POOL/AFP via Getty Images

The Duke of Sussex has been introduced at an event in Edinburgh without any of his official titles.

On Wednesday, Prince Harry spoke on stage at the sustainable tourism conference.

But prior to walking on, host Ayesha Hazarika, a former Labour adviser and broadcaster, told the crowd: “He’s made it clear that we are all just to call him Harry, so ladies and gentlemen, let’s give a big warm Scottish welcome... to Harry.”

The event marks Prince Harry’s final round of official engagements as a working member of the royal family.

During his speech, the 35-year-old discussed his sustainable tourism project, Travalyst.

“We want to hear truths and perspectives from across the industry,” he told the crowd. “We don’t need to reinvent the wheel, a lot of great work has already been done.

“But our research again shows that many of these endeavours have failed to reach the conscientiousness of consumers.

“We have to work together... to scale up the good practices already being used around the world. Scotland is a great example of what we mean.”

Prince Harry founded the Travalyst coalition last autumn along with brands including Booking.com, Skyscanner, Tripadvisor, Trip.com and Visa.

Last week, it was announced that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will formally stand down as senior royals on 31 March.

On their website, Meghan and Prince Harry state that a 12-month review will be undertaken when they commence their “revised role” at the end of March.

They explain that the royal family “respect and understand” their wish to live a more independent life, and that they will become “privately funded members of the royal family with permission to earn their own income and the ability to pursue their own private charitable interests”.

The couple also made it clear that while they will formally be known as His Royal Highness The Duke of Sussex and Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex, their HRH titles will not actively be used.

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