Prince Harry made a guest appearance on Dax Shepard’s American Expert podcast last week to talk about mental health. During the course of the 90-minute interview, the Duke of Sussex continued to make damaging public accusations against members of his family, as well as the Royal institution. In addition to criticising his father’s parenting skills, he described royal life as a “a mix between The Truman Show and living in a zoo” and claimed he wanted out when he was in early 20s.

He told his hosts: “I was thinking I don’t want this job, I don’t want to be here.

“I don’t want to be doing this. Look what it did to my mum.”

However, royal commentator Daniela Elser highlighted another line that struck her as particularly revealing.

At one stage Harry says: “My wife had the most amazing sort of explanation to that, which is … ‘You don’t need to be a princess.

“You can create the life that will be better than any princess.’”

In an op-ed for news.com.au, Ms Elser cannot help but wonder why Meghan and Harry insist on keeping their titles if the Royal Family is such a “toxic institution”.

READ MORE: Prince Harry warned gulf with Prince Charles ‘difficult to bridge’

She writes: “A clear pattern has emerged this year: Harry and Meghan very vocally criticise the royal house, the world is a bit shocked, royal reporters chunter, pearls are clutched, palace critics’ cite the Sussexes’ criticisms as even more proof of how broken the whole concept is, and then the couple goes back to announcing spiffy new business deals and using their Duke and Duchess titles.

“The million dollar question, or should that be the $180 million question, here is – would Harry and Meghan be snagging such stratospherically lucrative contracts if they were just Mr and Mrs Mountbatten-Windsor?

“Harry might have told the crowd during an appearance for his eco-travel initiative Travelyst last year “Just call me Harry” but in the commercial world the duo seem more than happy to be known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex when Hollywood or Silicon Valley come calling with their capped teeth and big cheque books.

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“This disconnect between the Sussexes’ continued, bruising criticism of the palace and their continued willingness to deploy their titles during money-making ventures or brand-building public appearances is just becoming even more and more blatantly obvious.”

Since quitting the Royal Family and moving to California, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have signed a number of lucrative business deals.

The couple have sealed multimillion dollar contracts with streaming giants Netflix and Spotify, as well as recently announcing a new partnership with Proctor and Gamble.