Harry and Meghan ‘angry as Archie and Lilibet will not get HRH titles’

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s children will not be granted HRH status when they are appointed by prince and princess by King Charles III, a source has claimed. Archie, three, and Lilibet, one, are set to be officially made prince and princess in the near future as Charles has agreed to issue a Letters Patent to grant the titles. But a report claims that following tense talks between the new King over recent days, the Sussexes have been left ‘furious’ that their children will not also get HRH titles.

Harry and Meghan are said to have highlighted that Prince Andrew’s daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, have HRH status despite not being working royals. A source told The Sun: ‘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. There have been a lot of talks over the past week.’

The source added: ‘But they have been left furious that Archie and Lilibet cannot take the title HRH. That is the agreement – they can be prince and princess but not HRH because they are not working royals.’

Archie and Lilibet (pictured on the family’s 2021 Christmas card) are entitled to the titles following the death of the Queen as part of rules set out by King George V in 1917, which limited the number of royals using HRH. Royal expert Phil Dampier told MailOnline on Thursday: ‘Letting Archie and Lilibet become a Prince and Princess but not have HRH titles would be a classic compromise. The same thing happened to Diana and Fergie after they were divorced from Charles and Andrew. And, of course, Sarah Ferguson is still the Duchess of York today.’

They continued: ‘Harry and Meghan should be pleased as using Prince or Princess sounds good in the States. But even though their children are still high up in the line of succession they will not be working royals so it’s quite right they shouldn’t have titles. Lots of people think Harry and Meghan themselves should lose their titles, so I think they should just accept this compromise and be grateful as it could be a lot worse for them and their children.’ Pictured: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex follow the Prince and Princess of Wales into Westminster Hall on September 14, 2022. 

Meghan has previously claimed the HRH title was earlier denied to Archie because of his race. And when asked if it was ‘important’ for Meghan that Archie be called a prince, she said she doesn’t have any attachment to the ‘grandeur’ of official titles. Pictured: Harry and Meghan’s bombshell interview with Oprah where they discussed their children’s titles. 

Meanwhile, the Sussexes stopped using their own HRH styles after stepping down as senior working royals for a life in Los Angeles, and there were later calls for their duke and duchess titles to be removed. In 1917, King George V issued new letters patent that limited the number of royal family members with an HRH title.

The Queens grandfather’s rules stated that ‘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’. Pictured: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are now the Prince and Princess of Wales, meaning their children will now go by the titles: His Royal Highness Prince George of Wales, Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Wales and His Royal Highness Prince Louis. Here, the family is seen attending the children’s first day of school on September 7, 2022, just one day before Queen Elizabeth II died. 

When Archie was born seventh in line to the throne in May 2019, he was too far down the line of succession. Although he was a great-grandchild of the monarch, he was not a first-born son of a future king, so he was not automatically a prince.

It comes after Prince Harry seemed overcome with emotion (pictured) as he honored Queen Elizabeth II for her moving lying in state service inside Westminster Hall on Wednesday.

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