Queen Elizabeth II’s passing has set off a variety of big changes throughout the royal family, especially on the subject of titles and the royal line of succession. Prince Charles, heir to the throne, is now King Charles III, and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, is now the Queen Consort. The title changes have trickled down in Charles’ own lineage as well, together with his eldest son Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton becoming Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and Cambridge, with the potential of becoming the Prince and Princess of Wales if the King chooses to bestow the glory upon them.
So, what does that mean for Prince Harry, King Charles’ second child, and his wife, Meghan Markle? The couple became the Duke and Duchess of Sussex after they tied the knot in 2018, and after they stepped back as senior working members of the royal family, they lost the glory of being called His and Her Royal Highness, but remained duke and duchess.
With Charles’ ascension, it’s unlikely Harry and Meghan’s titles will change, however it’s possible that their kids might be upgraded to Prince Archie and Princess Lillibet. That marks an enormous change considering Archie, 3, and Lillibet, 1, weren’t born with royal titles to start with.
That is as a consequence of a letters patent issued by King George V in 1917, which stated that only the youngsters of the sovereign, the youngsters of the sons of the sovereign, and the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales might be princes and princesses. Archie and Lillibet didn’t fit into those descriptions during their great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. But with Charles on the throne, they qualify as “the youngsters of sons of the soveriegn”—a. k. a. Harry’s kids. Changes could all the time be made by the sovereign, too. The Queen issued a Letters Patent in 2012 allowing all of William’s kids to have royal titles, not only Prince George. But the identical wasn’t done for Archie.
When Archie was born in 2019, he could’ve received the courtesy title Earl of Dumbarton (certainly one of Harry’s titles in Scotland), however it was said that Harry and Meghan decided to forgo that, in addition to “His Royal Highness,” in order that he could live a more private life. Nonetheless, Meghan revealed that the choice was made for them by the Firm. “It was not our decision to make,” she said in her interview with Oprah Winfrey. As for why William’s kids were all made royal and never Harry’s, Meghan said, “I heard a variety of it through Harry…it was a call they felt was appropriate.”
If the prince and princess title do turn into available to Archie and Lillibet, it could ultimately be Harry and Meghan’s decision to make use of them. Considering they’ve distanced themselves from royal duties and moved to California, it’s possible they’d turn it down. Other royals have also opted out of giving their children prince and princess titles after they became eligible, resembling Princess Anne and Prince Edward when it got here to their very own kids.
Erica Gonzales is the Senior Culture Editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage on TV, movies, music, books, and more. She was previously an editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com. There’s a 75 percent probability she’s listening to Lorde immediately.Â
