Archie And Lilibet's Potential Titles Lie In The Hands Of King Charles
Lifestyle - News
By SOPHIE MCEVOY
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Sept. 8, 2022, her eldest son ascended the throne as King Charles III, with his wife Camilla as Queen Consort. Other title changes are in order for the rest of the royal family, but the future titles of Archie and Lilabet — the young children of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle — are unclear.
Harry and Meghan famously left the royal family to move to America, for the sake of their and their children's safety and emotional health. There's been lingering confusion about the couple's royal status and titles — they never stopped being the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, to be clear — but we do know that their kids' titles are entirely in the hands of King Charles.
As soon as Charles took the throne, his grandchildren Archie and Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor were given the right to use prince and princess titles under the 1917 Letters Patent, issued by King George V. The patent originally applied to "only the children of the Sovereign, the grandchildren in the male line," but this changed with the birth of Princess Charlotte in 2015.
While Elizabeth II did amend the patent to include Prince William's children, she did not necessarily amend the use of royal titles for Prince Harry's children. In the past, Archie and Lilibet were offered "Earl" and "Lady" titles, respectively, but their parents told Oprah Winfrey in 2021 that using these titles "was not our decision to make."
At the time, Meghan shared her dismay at "the idea of the first member of color in this family not being titled in the same way that other grandchildren would be." Also, with Elizabeth's passing, rumors circulate that Charles will go for a "slimmed-down monarchy," which could mean Archie and Lilibet will not become prince and princess — all we can do is wait and see.