Millicent Cooke
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s children are now entitled to HRH titles after the death of the Queen.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s children are now technically Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor.
The change comes as a result of protocols set out by King George V in 1917, The Mirror report.
See the formal notice of the Queen’s death placed outside Holyrood below…
The rules mean that Archie, 3, and Lilibet, 1, have an HRH title if they would like to use it. This is because they are the children of a son of a sovereign – and the grandchildren of the new King Charles III.
According to the Metro, it was thought that King Charles might prevent Archie from becoming a prince when he ascended to the throne. This was in a bid to limit the number of key royals.
But if King Charles wants to change the rules, he will have to issue a Letters Patent amending Archie’s and Lilibet’s right to be prince and princess.
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Until then, the children will remain a prince and princess, whether their parents choose to use the titles or not.
Markle previously claimed that Archie was denied the title of a prince during a shocking interview with Oprah Winfrey, The Mirror reports.
The Duchess also accused Buckingham Palace of failing to protect her son by denying him 24/7 security.
However, when asked if it was important to her that Archie was a prince, Markle said she had no attachment to the ‘grandeur’ of titles.
She said it was about ‘the idea of our son not being safe, and also the idea of the first member of colour in this family not being titled in the same way that other grandchildren would be’.
Related Article: King Charles III Breaks Silence On Queen’s Death With Statement
The tradition comes from Prince Harry’s great-great-grandfather George V. He ordered that only the grandchildren of the monarch would be entitled to use the style of prince or princess and HRH. The only exception to this was that the eldest son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales was entitled to use the style HRH and Prince.
The Queen stepped in before George’s birth and issued a Letters Patent to ensure that all the Cambridges’ children had HRH titles. This did not extend to Archie or his sister Lilibet.
Queen Elizabeth II died aged 96 surrounded by her family at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on Thursday. She served for 70 years on the throne, making her the longest-serving monarch in the UK.
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