The royal family is an institution rife with rules. Some make sense, and some are – well, some are more confusing.
A rule that was quite confusing for many in the past year or so was why, even though Archie Mountbatten-Windsor was seventh in line to the throne (he is now sixth in line, upon the accession of Charles to the throne) and his younger sister Lilibet - or Lili - was eighth in line, they were not given HRH (His or Her Royal Highness) designation, nor were they a prince or a princess, respectively.
This issue gained steam after Archie and Lili’s parents, Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, appeared in an interview with Oprah discussing this issue as it related to Archie’s security. Harry’s brother Prince William’s three children all have HRH status and prince or princess titles, so why shouldn’t Archie (and, after her birth in June last year, Lili)?
The issue at hand
When Archie was born, he could have used the title of Earl of Dumbarton as a great-grandson of the Queen, but he would not have been born a prince.
“They were saying they didn’t want him to be a prince or princess, which would be different from protocol, and that he wasn’t going to receive security,” Meghan told Oprah. “This went on for the last few months of our pregnancy where I was going, hold on for a second.”
She continued, “They said [he’s not going to get security] because he’s not going to be a prince. Okay, well, he needs to be safe, so we’re not saying don’t make him a prince or princess, but if you’re saying the title is what’s going to affect that protection, we haven’t created this monster machine around us in terms of clickbait and tabloid fodder; you’ve allowed that to happen, which means our son needs to be safe.”
Meghan said no suitable explanation was given for why Archie wasn’t going to be a prince, but it’s really pretty simple – and goes all the way back to 1917.
The Sussexes stopped using their HRH styles in 2020 when they stepped down from royal duties in what was dubbed Megxit.
The reason why Archie and Lilibet didn’t have a title when they were born
That year, King George V issued a Letters Patent – the equivalent of an executive order – restricting the number of family members able to claim a royal title, declaring that all grandchildren of the sovereign were able to enjoy the HRH designation and a royal title – without attention paid to great-grandchildren, as Archie and Lili were to Her Majesty.
The important caveat as to why William’s three children George, Charlotte, and Louis were afforded HRH designation and royal titles and not Harry’s children is because, in that same 1917 Letters Patent, the eldest son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales – so, at that time, George – is also eligible for HRH styling and a prince designation.
In 2012, prior to George’s birth in 2013 and not knowing whether William’s first child would be a boy or a girl, Queen Elizabeth issued a new Letters Patent giving the HRH title to all children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales. As such, meet HRH Prince George, HRH Princess Charlotte, and HRH Prince Louis.
What happens to Archie and Lili’s titles now?
Now that Queen Elizabeth II has died and Charles is on the throne, Archie and Lili fall into the 1917 Letters Patent decision that all grandchildren of the monarch can be styled HRH and be referred to as prince or princess. Until Charles issues a Letters Patent saying differently, you may now refer to Archie as HRH Prince Archie and Lili as HRH Princess Lilibet. Whether Archie and Lili use these titles is up to their parents and to them, but they are able to be styled as such.
However, royal correspondent Victoria Arbiter told The Independent it remains to be seen whether that Letters Patent will stick or be changed by Charles, who has said in the past he wishes to slim down the monarchy. It wouldn’t be a slight against Harry and Meghan, though public perception will likely say it is, she said.
“Technically yes, because of the 1917 Letters Patent, [Archie and Lili] automatically become prince and princess, simply because that’s how the rules are laid out,” Arbiter continued. “It remains to be seen whether Harry and Meghan will want it and the pressure that comes with that. Charles could change the Letters Patent, and, if he does change the Letters Patent, it’s not a slight to Harry and Meghan.”
It all goes back to Charles’ long-held desire to slim down the monarchy, conversations he had even before Harry and Meghan met, Arbiter added.
“It remains to be seen what happens,” she said. “But, under the current rules, they’ll become prince and princess.”
Charles might not have a choice on Archie and Lili’s titles
Because of the Oprah interview and the highly critical conversations surrounding Archie and Lili’s lack of royal titles, Charles’ hands might be tied in the matter even if he does wish to issue that Letters Patent, Arbiter said.
“Public perception is everything,” she said. “At the end of the day, Charles wants to do whatever is favourable with the public.”
And, she said, perceptions of the Royal Family are ever-changing – “a movable feast” – and it will all depend on the mood and feel of both Charles and also Harry and Meghan at the time as to what Charles decides to do.
“On any given day, [public perception of royals] can change in a nanosecond,” Arbiter continued. “For Harry and Meghan and the rest of the royal family to come together and repair their relationship – that’s what everyone would like. If indeed they do, it may determine how Charles proceeds in the future.”
