BOB SEELY MP: Who really believes Harry and Meghan aren't behind Scobie's race claims? We need to strip the Sussexes of their Royal titles

In the next couple of weeks, I shall present a Bill in Parliament to strip the Duke and Duchess of Sussex of their Royal titles.

I'm not a republican and support the monarchy, but after the latest instalment of the couple's feud with the rest of the Royal Family, I believe that Parliament and the Privy Council should consider a nuclear option.

The Duke and Duchess can be Mr and Mrs like the rest of us.

My Titles Deprivation 1917 Act Amendment Bill would allow a vote in Parliament to advise the ancient advisory Privy Council to strip a member of the Royal Family of their titles.

My aim is simple: if someone doesn't want to be Royal, that is a decision we respect – but they should not keep the titles and privileges if they trash an institution that plays an important part in our nation's life.

Sources close to the Sussexes have stressed that Harry and Meghan are not behind claims made in Omid Scobie's book. But I suspect that few people believe such denials.

Of all Scobie's allegations, the use of race to smear the Royal Family is the most poisonously insidious, guaranteed to leave a whiff of stigma and impossible to prove when false. It is the catch-all slur of the modern era.

The allegations jar with so much of what we know about the Royals and this country. The late Queen and King Charles have done extraordinary work over decades reaching out to everyone in the country, including ethnic minorities and those from Commonwealth nations.

I feel genuine pity for Harry and the life choices he has made. It can't have been easy for him. But the couple and their supporters have a track record of attacking the Royal Family with unproven and incendiary allegations, which they then appear to deny or refuse to back up, which is indefensible.

It is time for us all to move on. I believe it is time they dropped their titles – or were made to – and lived by their own talents, if they have any to speak of.

The title of Scobie's book, Endgame, is Freudian. The author talks about the monarchy's fight for survival. But I see no fight for survival. I see the monarchy in safe hands. The real endgame, I believe, is for Meghan and Harry and their clique – and I suspect it is fast approaching.

'Meghan is busy working on creating something safe and timeless,' wrote Scobie. 'Something that won't be accused of riding on the back of anything Royal.' Does one laugh or cry?

Scobie's won't be the last dirge from the Sussex supporters' club, but they will get fewer and more desperate. The sooner the Duke and Duchess become just Mr and Mrs Sussex, the better for us all.