Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are well on their way to earning the "worst all-time royal reputation", according to a royal expert.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were asked to vacate their UK residence at Frogmore Cottage this week amid tension over Prince Harry's memoir in a move that is said to have "stunned" the pair.
And after it was reported that the soon-to-be empty property had been earmarked for disgraced Prince Andrew, royal expert and chairman of Reputation Management Consultants Eric Schiffer said the decision to evict Harry and Meghan shows their "reputation is getting torpedoed".
READ MORE: Prince Harry and Meghan's team confirm their royal booting from Frogmore Cottage
"The position of relative power that Harry and Meghan have in the royal family is now being potentially overtaken by Andrew, so I don't think you could get worse," Schiffer told the Daily Star.
"Their reputation is getting torpedoed. [They're] getting sucked into a septic mud of what many consider one of the worst all-time royal reputations in Andrew."
Harry and Meghan were gifted Frogmore Cottage by the late Queen Elizabeth II after their 2018 wedding.
It has been reported that the decision to evict the Sussexes was made after Harry launched a series of attacks against his relatives in his memoir, Spare, released in January of this year.
The book, said to have "hit" King Charles "beyond hard", saw the prince accuse his family of intentionally leaking stories about other members of the royal household to the press and even said his brother had been physically aggressive towards him.
King Charles in 'messy all-out war' with Harry and Meghan after 'provocative move'
And while the autobiography has done little to ease the tension between the Sussexes and the rest of the royals, Schiffer noted this may not be the reason for the eviction.
"The question is, is [the eviction] something that happened out of procedure?" he added.
"Was it long in the making or is this relatively new?
"If it is new then it's clearly an indication that Spare did devastating damage to the relationship between the King and Harry, that is likely to not be repaired.
"And this action potentially signals […] where Harry really sits in the future power structure of the Crown."
A spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday (March 1) that Harry and Meghan had been evicted from their UK residence after days of speculation, with the pair now expected to leave the property for good shortly after King Charles' coronation on May 6.
"We can confirm The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been requested to vacate their residence at Frogmore Cottage," the spokesperson said.
The ex-royal duo are understood to have been "stunned" by the decision, despite having called Montecito, California their home for the last three years.
It has been reported that the property is now earmarked for the Duke of York, who is understood to be "resisting" attempts by the King to move him out of the much larger Royal Lodge, where he has lived for the last 20 years.
Meghan's friend and author of the book Finding Freedom, Omid Scobie, said: “It all feels very final and like a cruel punishment.
“It’s like [the family] want to cut them out of the picture for good.”
Scobie added: "It’s news, sources tell me, that has left Harry and Meghan stunned, and at least two members of the Royal Family 'appalled'."
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