Buckingham Palace has updated the royal family’s website to reflect the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s children’s new titles of Prince and Princess.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s children, who are sixth and seventh in line to the throne respectively, are now named Prince Archie of Sussex and Princess Lilibet of Sussex on the site.
It comes after the couple’s daughter was formally referred to as Princess Lilibet for the first time when their spokesperson confirmed she had been christened last week in California.
Harry and Meghan’s spokesperson also told the Daily Mail: “The children’s titles have been a birthright since their grandfather became monarch. This matter has been settled for some time in alignment with Buckingham Palace.”
Prior to today (Thursday 9 March), Archie, three, and Lilibet, who is 21 months old, were known as Master and Miss on the website’s Succession page.
After Harry and Meghan stepped down as working royals in 2020 and stopped using their HRH styles, Archie and Lilibet were not given HRH titles at birth due to their position in the line of succession.
At the time they were born, Queen Elizabeth II was still alive, but following her death last September and the accession of King Charles III, Archie and Lilibet became grandchildren of a monarch and were therefore entitled to the titles of Prince and Princess.
Yesterday (Wednesday 8 March), the Sussexes confirmed that Lilibet had been christened in a small ceremony in Montecito, California, where the family resides.
It was reported that the King and Queen Consort, as well as the Prince and Princess of Wales, were invited to the ceremony, but no royals were in attendance.
The couple’s spokesperson said: “I can confirm that Princess Lilibet Diana was christened on Friday 3 March by the Archbishop of Los Angeles, the Rev John Taylor.”
The latest development comes after the King requested that Harry and Meghan vacate their UK residence, Frogmore Cottage.
The monarch reportedly offered the keys to Frogmore Cottage to his brother, the Duke of York, instead, but Prince Andrew is said to be “resisting” any attempts to move him out of his current residence, Royal Lodge.
Harry and Meghan were “not fighting” the eviction, a source said. Their spokesperson has indicated that the couple have been officially invited to the King’s coronation on 6 May, but no decision on whether they will attend has been disclosed.
The coronation also falls on Archie’s fourth birthday. It is not known if the Sussexes will stay home to celebrate the occasion, or fly the whole family to the UK.
The King has reportedly offered the Sussexes a suite of rooms in Buckingham Palace that previously belonged to Andrew, if they wish to travel and stay in the UK.
