Prince Archie & Princess Lilibet Reportedly Had No Idea Their Family Is Royalty

Prince Archie, the son of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, was born in London while his parents were active members of the royal family. He's still listed on the royal family website as sixth in line to the throne. When Harry and Meghan stepped back from royal duties in early 2020, Archie was less than a year old. So it is highly likely that he doesn't remember much, if anything, about living in England as a part of the royal family. Then we have Harry and Meghan's daughter Princess Lilibet, who was born in 2021 in California. Lilibet did meet her great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II in 2022; however, she has spent most of her life in the U.S. 

While Harry and Meghan's kids are still a part of the royal family by blood, they have apparently no clear idea that they're royalty. That's said to be very much by design. "The truth is [Archie and Lilibet] don't really have any concept about who they are, their parents are very good at keeping them away from it all so they live as normal little kids," someone reportedly close to Harry and Meghan told HELLO!.

That doesn't mean that they wouldn't want to spend time with their relatives, like King Charles, but for them, it would just be a meeting with grandpa. Harry spent his life growing up in the public eye, and he apparently wants to keep his kids away from that level of scrutiny. So it makes sense that he wouldn't make a big deal to Archie and Lilibet about them being in the royal family.

Prince Harry has visited the U.K. a number of times since stepping back from royal duties, including for the coronation of King Charles. On the other hand, it's been years since Meghan and the kids have been there. There had been plans for the whole family to go to London in July 2026, but because of security concerns, at the time of this writing, only Harry went. There's a chance that the rest of the family will be joining Harry as he visits Birmingham in connection to the Invictus Games that will be held there in July 2027. With the inevitable attention that Archie and Lilibet would get, it might be that Harry and Meghan would have to have a conversation with them about being royals.

It's not clear if they will visit or if they will meet with any members of the royal family if they do come to Birmingham. It's been reported that King Charles does want to spend some time with his grandkids during the trip, via GB News.

Given the fact that Harry and Meghan are bringing up their kids outside of the scope of the royal family, it will be interesting to see when Archie and Lilibet greet King Charles in public — will they follow traditional rules? Even though the royal family website says that it's not required, the traditional greeting is a bow or curtsy when meeting the royal family for the first time. It's broadly reported that this tradition starts at the age of five, so both Archie and Lilibet would be expected to follow this rule.