Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s children have the right to new royal titles, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
The British monarch sadly passed away on Thursday afternoon at the age of 96, making her eldest son Charles the new King.
In wake of her death, the Queen’s great-grandchildren Archie and Lilibet are now technically a Prince and Princess respectively.
According to a Letters Patent issued by King George V in 1917, the children and grandchildren of a monarch are automatically gifted the title HRH, as well as prince or princess.
However the new sovereign, King Charles III, could move to change the protocols in favour of a tightened royal family in the future.
During an interview with Oprah Winfrey last year, Harry and Meghan said they expected Archie would be given the title of Prince after Charles acceded the throne.
But the couple claimed they were told that protocols would be changed, meaning Archie wouldn’t get a royal title.
When Meghan was asked if Archie being a Prince was important to her, she replied: “If it meant he was going to be safe, then of course.”
The Duchess was referring to the fact that extended members of the royal family don’t have an automatic right to police protection.
While protocols established by King George V in 1917 meant the children and grandchildren of a sovereign only had the right to a HRH title, Prince William and Kate Middleton’s first child George was automatically a Prince, as an exception was made in the Letters Patent for the eldest son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales.
But in 2012, Queen Elizabeth II extended the protocol to all children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales, allowing Charlotte and Louis to use the HRH title and prince or princess.
Queen Elizabeth II died at her home in Balmoral on Thursday afternoon, and her eldest son Charles immediately ascended to the throne.
Charles’ eldest son, Prince William, is now first in line to the throne – with his three children George, Charlotte, and Louis rising to second, third and fourth respectively.
Prince Harry, who quit life as a senior working royal in 2020 alongside his wife Meghan Markle, is fifth in line.
Their children Archie, 3, and Lilibet, 1, are now sixth and seventh in line.
