Prince Harry has started his last round of royal duties on an informal note, making it clear that the audience at a summit in Scotland should simply call him Harry.

Harry and wife Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have announced they will step down from their duties as senior royals at the end of March to spend more time in North America.

Although Harry will no longer be known as His Royal Highness, he will still be a prince.

Before Harry’s speech on sustainable travel in Edinburgh on Wednesday, event host Ayesha Hazarika told delegates the Duke of Sussex did not want to to be addressed formally.

“He’s made it clear that we are all just to call him Harry,” she said.

Harry and Meghan have been in Canada with their son Archie for several weeks. The Duke returned to Britain on Tuesday, according to local media.

On Friday, he is due to visit the studios at Abbey Road in north London, where the Beatles recorded 11 of their 13 albums, to meet the singer Jon Bon Jovi and the Invictus Games Choir, who are recording a single for charity.

He and Meghan are also expected to attend a music festival at Royal Albert Hall and a Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey. There has been no formal announcement about whether the couple will attend the wedding of Harry’s cousin, Princess Beatrice, at the end of May.

The prince’s trip to Britain comes after news last week that he and Meghan would not use the word “royal” in their branding. That decision – reportedly at the direction of the Queen – followed weeks of talks between the couple and the royal family about how they will present themselves to the world in future.

Harry has spoken of his sadness at being forced to give up his royal duties, saying there was no other option if he and Meghan, an American actor, were to seek an independent future away from stifling media intrusion.

-with AAP