The Harry and Megan royal show curtain comes down

So the Queen and her advisers have concluded that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex - Harry and Meghan - should not be allowed to use the word "royal" in branding everything from pencils to toothpaste in their new commercial venture to sell themselves for financial gain. That's according to all the media reports today and I believe it to be accurate, and inevitable. So the couple's plan to put Sussex Royal onto their commercially-available goods has been shattered. Now what do they do? Switch the name to Harry & Meghan, or just Sussex? To understand the finality of this decision by Buckingham Palace it's helpful to read or reread the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's website which is full of glowing words about their new role in life which is to remain as members of the Royal Family but "financially independent". The concept was false anyway because they were never going to be financially independent like you and me. They are financially "dependent" on the generosity of the Prince of Wales. Harry receives a vast sum every year from his father's Duchy of Cornwall estate, plus he has all the money left to him by his mother, Princess Diana, and his great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. All together that's a helluva lot of money, more than enough to live a very comfortable, luxurious life, thank you very much. But Harry and Meghan wanted to prove that, separated from the rigours and obligations of carrying out daily duty roles on behalf of the Queen, they could set up a business and actually make money on their own. Except that the idea which was to form the basis of their new status was still dependent on the acceptance in everyone's minds that they were still part of the Royal Family in every other way. No money from the Civil List, ok, but still royals, not commoners. Thus the Sussex Royal brand was totally crucial for a successful future. Now, if the reports are right, even that is to be taken away from them. And, sad though it is for Harry, in particular, the Queen had little choice. How could she agree to let her troubled grandson run around Hollywood selling Sussex Royal picture books and Sussex Royal nappies while effectively living in exile in Canada, and probably eventually the West Coast of America, without playing any meaningful role on her behalf. The Sussex Royal brand is actually a pretty yucky idea under the circumstances. It's ok if Harry and Meghan are living as fully paid-up members of the Royal Family and living in Frogmore Cottage, Windsor Park, and tea cosies with their names on are being sold at the Windsor Castle gift shop as part of the tourist business. The Royal Family is said to generate £1.9 billion in annual revenue for the tourism industry. But quite another for Harry and Meghan to have tea cosies with their Sussex Royal brand name on them to generate money for themselves. The banning of the Sussex Royal brand is another blow - and a major one - to the Harry and Meghan royal show. I really don't know how this sorry story is going to end up. Perhaps it's time for the Prince of Wales, father and father-in-law, to step in and say "Enough is enough, this life in exile has got to stop. Come home!"