Is Archie a Prince?
A TRANSITIONAL time is ahead for the British monarchy as the nation comes to grips with the death of Her Majesty.
Queen Elizabeth II died peacefully on Thursday, September 8, 2022, signalling changes ahead as key figures assume new titles.
Is Archie a prince?
Archie is Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's eldest child who was born on May 6, 2019, in the UK.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's firstborn was not given a title at birth but is set to become a Prince after Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's death.
King George V laid down the rules about who can and cannot be a prince and princess in 1917.
He declared that great-grandchildren of the monarch will not automatically be a prince or princess other than the eldest son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales.
Prince George was born on July 22, 2013, into the position of the eldest son of Prince William - the then-Prince of Wales' eldest son.
Therefore he was automatically assigned the title of Prince George.
But other great-grandchildren of the monarch were not automatically given a title until the Queen changed the rules to allow Charlotte and Louis to also have princess and prince title.
However as Archie is the younger son of the Prince of Wales he was not made a prince.
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But now he is the grandchild of the monarch, rather that the great-grandchild, he will receive the title.
What have Prince Harry and Meghan Markle said on not being a prince?
Meghan has criticised the Royal Family for "taking away" her son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor's "birthright" to be a prince.
During the couple's shocking interview with Oprah, the Duchess of Sussex claimed the decision not to give Archie a title went against convention.
Meghan claimed to Oprah Winfrey that Archie wasn't made a prince after "concerns and conversations" about "how dark" his skin would be when he was born.
The Duchess of Sussex said there had been conversations with Prince Harry and a "family" member about their unborn son and what color his skin would be - and "what that would mean or look like".
But she declined to say who had started those conversations, saying it would be "damaging" for them.
Prince Harry said he would "never share" the full details of the discussion but that he was asked at the start of his relationship with Meghan, how dark the skin of their children might be.
Speaking to Oprah, Meghan said the concerns had been raised at the same time that the future parents were told Archie would not receive security as he was not a prince.
When Archie was born in 2019, it was reported that Meghan and Harry chose not to use a courtesy title for their new boy.
Instead, he is simply known as Master Archie after his parents decided not to give him one of the Duke of Sussex's lesser titles, the Earl of Dumbarton.
This signalled the couple wanted their child to be a “private citizen”.
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Will Archie become a prince after the Queen's death?
Harry and Meghan's children, Archie, three, and Lilibet, one, will now officially be a Prince and Princess, and HRH, under the rules, established in 1917.
Being in the royal line of succession does not guarantee a royal title but they have assumed titles now the Queen has passed away.