Breaking news: The British monarchy is an extremely old-fashioned and outdated institution that operates under unbelievably archaic and patriarchal traditions. So when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s first child was born in May 2019, while it was a bit confusing that he wasn’t instantly referred to as Prince Archie, it seemed well within the realm of possibility that there might be some stodgy old rule dictating who, exactly, can be called a prince or princess.
It turns out that that stodgy old rule does indeed exist, though there’s another that would allow the little royal—currently officially titled Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor—to become a prince once Prince Charles assumes the throne. However, that title upgrade is currently up in the air, with Harry and Meghan hinting in their March 7 bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey that a future rule change might be driven by racism or, at the very least, the palace’s frustration with the couple’s very public decision to distance themselves from their royal duties.
Here’s what you need to know about Archie’s title (or lack thereof), all of which will also apply to his soon-to-arrive little sister.
Archie wasn’t born a prince, per the official royal rulebook.
It may seem strange that the 22-month-old wasn’t born Prince Archie despite being seventh in line for the throne, but that’s just the way the royal cookie crumbles. A letters patent issued by King George V in 1917 decreed that only the children and male-line…
