After the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the Royal Family’s official titles all had a mix-up as former Prince Charles becomes King. While Prince Harry and Meghan’s children, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, 3, and his sister Lilibet, 1, now enjoy the titles of Prince and Princess, the Queen’s great-grandchildren will not receive His/Her Royal Highness titles because their parents chose to finish their royal duties.
Despite the fact that Harry would have known the consequences of his free choice to stop being a working Royal and instead opt for the Hollywood celebrity lifestyle with his wife, Duchess Meghan Markle, insiders say that the couple is “furious” that their children will not get HRH titles.
“Harry and Meghan were worried about the security issue and being prince and princess brings them the right to have certain levels of royal security. There have been a lot of talks over the past week,” a source told The Sun. “But they have been left furious that Archie and Lilibet cannot take the title HRH. That is the agreement – they can be prince and princess but not HRH because they are not working royals.”
According to reports, the Sussexes had “tense discussions” with Harry’s father, King Charles III. Undoubtedly, Harry will have put it to his father than the King’s younger brother, Prince Andrew’s children, Princess Beatrice and Eugenie still both have their titles despite their father now not counting as a working royal. While this is true, Andrew did not willingly leave his Royal duties and both his children already had HRH titles when he was forced to stand down.
Prince Harry is fifth in the line of succession behind his older brother, William, Prince, and Wales, and his children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. Archie and Lilibet are sixth and seventh in line.
🔔 | Harry and Meghan's children are now Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet
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— Tyla (@Tyla) September 8, 2022
While it was once the law that female children would come behind male heirs in the line for the throne, Queen Elizabeth II passed the Succession To The Crown Act in 2013 so that the eldest child of either gender would be the first in line. Royal expert, Phil Dampier told the Mail that he believes that as Harry and Meghan chose to leave their Royal duties behind, and their children will not spend any time undertaking the exhausting amount of work active Royals must carry out, it’s inappropriate for them to receive HRH titles:
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“Harry and Meghan should be pleased as using Prince or Princess sounds good in the States. But even though their children are still high up in the line of succession they will not be working royals, so it’s quite right they shouldn’t have titles. “Lots of people think Harry and Meghan themselves should lose their titles, so I think they should just accept this compromise and be grateful – as it could be a lot worse for them and their children.”
After the Sussexes controversially left Britain behind to seek a more private life in Hollywood, after enjoying a lavish Royal wedding at the British taxpayer’s expense, Meghan told Oprah Winfrey in 2021 that she was worried that Archie may be blocked from receiving the title of Prince. Bizarrely, when Oprah asked the Hollywood starlet if she thought Archie may not become a Prince because of her race, she responded:
“In those months when I was pregnant, all around this same time, so we [had] the conversation of he won’t be given security, he’s not going to be given a title. “And, also, concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.”