Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Plan to Use Royal Titles for Their Children
Royal Family news and updates reveal that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are planning to use royal titles for their children. Read on and we’ll spill the Earl Grey.
Royal Family News: Princely Protocols Change Over Time
Royal Family news and updates reveal that, according to NPR, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced on Wednesday, March 8 that their daughter, Lilibet, had been christened in a private ceremony in California. At the time, the Sussexes publicly referred to their daughter as a princess, revealing for the first time that they would be using royal titles for their children.
Princess Lilibet Diana, who will be turning two in July, was christened on Friday by the Archbishop of Los Angeles, Rev John Taylor, the duke and duchess said in a statement. Lilibet’s title as well as that of her brother, Archie, who will turn four in May will have their names subsequently updated on the Buckingham Palace website.
First Time Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet Use Titles
This announcement is the first time Lilibet and Archie’s titles have been used publicly. Royal watchers may recall that Archie and Lilibet’s titles first caught the public’s attention two years ago during Harry and Meghan’s infamous Oprah Winfrey interview. According to Inside Edition, Meghan, whose mother is black, inferred when she was pregnant with Archie, that the palace was “saying they didn’t want him to be a prince … which would be different from protocol.”
The Duchess of Sussex suggested that it was because Archie would be the Royal Family’s first “member of color” and would make it the first time that a royal grandchild wasn’t given the same title as other royal grandchildren.
Changing Guard Means Changing Protocol
At the time, royal experts suggested that Meghan’s comments were based on a misunderstanding of how royal titles were conferred. Titles are conferred by way of a decree issued by the late King George V in 1917 which limits princely titles to the male-line grandchildren of the sovereign.
What this means is, as long as the late Queen Elizabeth II was still alive, Harry and his older brother, Prince William were the sovereign’s grandchildren, and Harry and William’s children, being great-grandchildren, would not receive titles automatically.
When Charles Became King
Of course, the late monarch had the power to change the rules, and in 2012, she decreed that Prince William and Catherine’s children would be princes and princesses. However, the decree did not apply to Harry and Meghan’s children.
The situation changed once again when King Charles III ascended the throne on the death of his mother in September of 2022. Both William and Harry are the King’s sons, so their offspring are now royal grandchildren and thus entitled to be referred to as prince and princess. Be sure and stay up to speed on this and other royally related stories. Return here often for more Royal Family news and updates.