Following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, further members of the royal family may get new titles in addition to Prince William and Kate Middleton.
The children of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, 3-year-old Archie Harrison and 15-month-old Lilibet Diana, are now officially entitled to the titles of prince and princess because their grandfather, King Charles III, ascended to the throne as the Queen’s heir and their father moved up in the line of succession.
However, the couple did give up their respective titles of His and Her Highness when they retired from their royal duties in 2020.
Prince Harry’s great-great-grandfather King George V established rules in 1917 that allowed royal titles to be conferred to the sons of the sovereign (a.k.a. their grandchildren descended from males).
Harry’s children were the Queen’s great-grandchildren throughout her rule. Harry’s children now qualify since they are the monarch’s legal grandchildren due to King Charles ascending to the throne.
The 1917 law also stipulated that the oldest son of the sovereign and children of the sovereign were eligible for royal titles (Prince George, the son of Prince William, would have qualified even before the Queen’s passing).
Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis come to mind. Since a new rule was adopted ten years ago, all of William’s children have truly received their titles. In 2012, Queen Elizabeth II changed the law so that any children of the Prince of Wales’ eldest son (i.e., William’s children, before her passing) would be eligible for royal titles.
As a result, while Her Majesty was still alive, William’s younger children with Kate could be referred to as Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. Although Archie and Lili can now utilize royal titles, it is debatable whether they would ever want to.
After all, there are rumors that Harry and Meghan decided against giving Archie the title of Earl of Dumbarton when he was born despite the fact that he is entitled to it because they fear he would be teased for it.
Additionally, Meghan said that not everyone in the palace was delighted with the prospect of Archie gaining a prince title when the line of succession altered when the pair talked with Oprah Winfrey in a tell-all show last year.
