As one of the most outspoken members of the royal family, Prince Harry is also one of its most popular, but he has rattled a few cages with his latest comments about the British monarchy. Speaking to Newsweek magazine in a wide-ranging interview, Harry made the somewhat surprising claim that no member of the royal family wants to inherit the crown.

“Is there any one of the royal family who wants to be king or queen? I don’t think so, but we will carry out our duties at the right time,” he told the magazine.

While the 32-year-old has made no secret of the fact that he’s thrilled to have moved down the line of succession following the births of Prince George and Princess Charlotte, this marked the first time Harry has spoken on behalf of other members of his family. While he defended the monarchy and praised it as an institution and a “force for good,” his comments have prompted Republicans in Great Britain—who seek to abolish the monarchy entirely—to argue that the country does not need “reluctant royals.”

“If what Prince Harry says is true, we need a national debate about ending the Monarchy,” wrote the online, membership-based campaign Republic on Twitter. “We need willing heads of state...”

Certainly it is not the sort of debate the royal family will want to fuel. One suspects the Queen, who spent Thursday at Royal Ascot, where the crowds applauded her arrival, would rather her grandson had stayed quiet on the matter of monarchical destiny. While most readers will understand the message the prince was presumably trying to get across—the burden of duty can indeed weigh heavily—the suggestion that no one in the royal family wants the ”top job“ is not the image the Windsors want to promote.

Prince Charles is the longest-serving Prince of Wales of all time, and while inheriting the crown means the death of his mother, it is a role Charles was born to fulfill. “Wanting” doesn’t really come into it. The Queen had the role thrust upon her following the death of her father King George VI in 1952, and today is the country’s longest-reigning monarch, perceived by many as a beacon of duty.

When she was a 21-year-old princess, Elizabeth promised to dedicate her whole life, whether it be long or short, to her subjects. What seems so apparent from Harry’s comments is that the next generation has a very different vision for the monarchy in the future.