Archie and Lilibet have new titles!
Following the death of the Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday, Harry and Meghan’s children have become His Royal Highness Prince Archie of Sussex and Her Royal Highness Princess Lilibet of Sussex.
Under rules set out by George V in 1917, the grandchildren of the monarch automatically receive royal titles.
This comes after Prince Harry rushed to Balmoral from London to besides his grandmother the Queen during her final moments – although Meghan, much like Kate Middleton did not make the journey to Scotland.
Last year Meghan and Prince Harry shock the world after claiming that Prince and Princess title might be denied to Archie because of his mixed-race ancestry via his African-American grandmother – Meghan’s mum – Doria Ragland.
In an interview with broadcaster Oprah Winfrey, the Duchess of Sussex said a member of the royal family had expressed “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he was born.”
“That was relayed to me from Harry. Those were conversations that the family had with him,” Meghan added. The royal couple declined to reveal who was involved in those conversations. “That would be very damaging to them,” she said.
Meghan, a former actress, said these comments were made at the same time as the couple were told Archie wouldn’t have security or an official title.
She also claimed “conversations” while she was pregnant about the convention being changed once Charles became King, meaning Archie would lose his right to a title.
The Duchess, who was pregnant with Lilibet at the time, insisted to the television host that her concern over her son’s right to the title of prince was linked to her desire for him to be given secure police protection.
Buckingham Palace told press at the time of Archie’s birth in 2019 that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had chosen not to use any title at all for their son.
The couple however said that this was not the case telling Oprah: “It’s not our decision to make, right.”
At the time of writing, there has been no indication that the new King intends to make any changes to the convention.
Related links
- Premier League and EFL postpone fixtures following death of Queen Elizabeth II.
- Trevor Sinclair leaves Twitter after saying ‘black and brown people’ shouldn’t mourn Queen
- People are calling for Huw Edwards to be knighted after heartfelt Queen’s coverage
