The royal family is about to undergo some significant changes as a result of the passing of Queen Elizabeth on Thursday, particularly in terms of the titles.
As previously reported, Prince Charles has assumed the throne of King Charles III, and his wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, Duchess of Cornwall, has been given the contentious title of Queen Consort. Other members of the royal family are also affected by the title changes. His eldest son Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton now have the additional titles of Duke and Duchess of Cornwall in addition to Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Who else is given a new title? Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, age 3, and Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, age 1, are children of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Yes, thanks to the Duke of Sussex moving up the line of succession, their children can now become princes and princesses. Additionally, they have access to His and Her Royal Highness. Since they weren’t even given one when they were born, this is a huge improvement for the little ones!
For those of you who are unaware, King George V’s 1917 letters patent essentially stated that only the monarch’s children, the children of the monarch’s sons, and the oldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales were eligible to hold royal titles. How did that affect Archie and Lilibit? Since they were the great-grandchildren of Queen Elizabeth at the time, they were not eligible to inherit the titles of prince and princess. Her Majesty altered the custom in 2012 so that ALL three of Will and Kate’s children — Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis — received titles rather than just the eldest.
Archie and Lilibet, however, did not receive the same care. The former actress asserted to Oprah Winfrey in March 2021 that the couple had been informed that their son would not be given a title before he was even born. She said: “They didn’t want him to be a prince or a princess, which would be different from protocol. It was really hard … This went on for the last few months of our pregnancy where I’m going, ‘Hold on a second. How does that work? … If he’s not gonna be a prince, he needs to be safe.’ … All around this same time, we had in tandem 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.”
They can now claim the titles of prince and princess because Charles has succeeded to the throne and they are thus the grandchildren of a sovereign. That is if the grandfather chooses to give it to them after ascending to the throne! Now. here’s the deal…
According to reports, Charles has been debating for some time whether or not to restrict the monarch’s audience to just the important individuals. An earlier source told The Sun the following: “Charles has never made any secret of the fact that he wants a slimmed-down Monarchy when he becomes King. He realizes that the public doesn’t want to pay for a huge Monarchy and, as he said, the balcony at Buckingham Palace would probably collapse.”
This implies that if this occurs, Archie and Lilibet might not receive these new distinctions. Yikes! Of course, he hasn’t made a formal announcement, so he might change his mind. But there’s a good chance the titles could be revoked given how tense things have been between Meghan, Harry, Charles, and the rest of the family for a while.
What do Perezcious readers think? Do you believe Archie and Lilibet will receive a title from King Charles? Post your thoughts in the comments (below).
