Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's children Archie, 3, and Lilibet, 1, will reportedly not be granted the status of HRH when they are made prince and princess by King Charles III, a decision that has left Harry and Meghan angry. The King is expected to anoint Prince Archie, and Princess Lilibet, in the near future but they won't be called HRH.
According to reports, there has been tense discussions on Archie and Lilibet being given the HRH status while Meghan and Prince Harry are in the UK for the Queen's funeral. King Charles III has agreed to grant the prince and princess titles to his two grandchildren, who live with their parents in Montecito, California, by issuing letters patent.
Archie and Lilibet Deprived
When Harry, 37, and Meghan, 41, moved to California two and a half years ago, they agreed not to use their titles of His and Her Royal Highness. It seems, using that as a cover King Charles III has decided not to grant his grandchildren Archie and Lilibet with the same status although they will get the titles of Prince and Princess
However, a lot has happened in the past couple of days. Following the death of Queen Elizabeth III, new titles have been bestowed on other royals and several other titles have been realigned. Harry and Meghan now reportedly want their children to get the HRH status.
Harry and Meghan are rumored to have stressed that despite not being employed by the royal family, Beatrice and Eugenie, the daughters of Prince Andrew, have HRH status.
"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," a source told The Sun.
"There have been a lot of talks over the past week. They have been insistent that Archie and Lilibet are prince and princess."
"They have been relentless since the Queen died. But they have been left furious that Archie and Lilibet cannot take the title HRH," the source added.
"That is the agreement — they can be prince and princess but not HRH because they are not working royals."
Setback for Meghan and Harry
According to rules set by King George V in 1917, which restricted the number of royals using HRH, Archie and Lilibet are qualified to use the titles after the passing of the Queen. The HRH title, according to Meghan, was previously withheld from Archie due to his race.
When asked if Meghan thought it was "important" that Archie be referred to as a prince, she responded that she didn't care about the "grandeur" of official titles.
After stepping down from their positions as senior working royals to live in Los Angeles, the Sussexes ceased using their own HRH styles, and there were later calls for the removal of their duke and duchess titles.
However, that didn't happen and Harry and Meghan are still Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
The royal family follows certain rules when it comes to assigning titles. The restrictions on royal family members with an HRH title came in 1917 after King George V issued new letters patent that limited the usage.
According to the rules set by the Queen's great-grandfather, "the children of any Sovereign of these Realms and the children of the sons of any such Sovereign and the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales shall have and at all times hold and enjoy the style, title or attribute of Royal Highness with their titular dignity of Prince or Princess prefixed to their respective Christian names or with their other titles of honor."
Archie was too far down the line of succession when he was born seventh in line to the throne in May 2019. He wasn't automatically a prince because he wasn't the first-born son of a future king, despite being the monarch's great-grandson.
