Prince Harry and Meghan Markle drop HRH titles for upcoming TV special

While announcing their resignation as senior members of the British royal family, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle declared that they won't be using their "His/Her Royal Highness" titles anymore, while noting that other financially independent royals like Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie still use their royal titles.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will bring their decision into practice with their upcoming engagement. In a new promo for the upcoming broadcast of a primetime TV special celebrating Time magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, the couple appeared to ditch their royal titles reintroducing themselves as "Harry and Meghan."

Harry and Meghan will be among several high-profile celebrities expected to be featured in the TV special which is airing on Tuesday, Sept. 22. In the promo which was shared by E! News, the Duke and the Duchess of Sussex were simply referred to as "Harry and Meghan" instead of using their HRH titles.

The royal family has not put any restrictions on them from using their Duke and Duchess title, though they were prohibited from using their Sussex Royal brand. A Time article detailing the event also referred to the pair as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Meanwhile, Harry's elder brother and sister-in-law, Prince William and Kate Middleton, also didn't use the HRH title along with his name while wishing him on his 36th birthday earlier this week. While the usual birthday wishes for the British royal family members on Kensington Palace's social media accounts refer to them as Royal Highnesses, the picture of Harry running on a race track with William and Kate was simply captioned: "Wishing a very happy birthday to Prince Harry today!

At the Time magazine's event, Harry and Meghan will appear alongside Trevor Noah, Sandra Oh, John Legend, Kumail Nanjiani, and more. The TV special will also feature musical performances by Halsey, Jennifer Hudson, and The Weeknd.

This is the first time the TIME100 list is being broadcast on TV in this manner. Usually, the annual list of 100 influential people is accompanied by in-person events, but it was cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Discussing the change in plans, TIME studios president Ian Orefice said in a statement: "In a year in which we are unfortunately unable to convene the TIME100 community together in person, we are excited to celebrate the extraordinary achievements of the members of this year's list with a brand-new experience on ABC that will allow more people to participate than ever before."