There shouldn’t be any more confusion about a Pope emeritus than there should be about a president emeritus or a professor emeritus. The person in question ceased to be a Pope, or a president, or a professor, as applicable.
Maybe Benedict was trying to be gracious, hoping it would all get sorted out under Francis. But, it didn’t.
It's just dismaying that even on commonplace decisions like this, there seemed to be people standing there who were quite willing to override his choices, with him too physically / mentally worn down to go and nail down every daggone detail.
It's a little thing. It *shouldn't* cause confusion, But at the same time, it's shocking.