In Sunday night’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, said the royal family decided not to confer a title on their son Archie. She said she was never given a reason for “the first colored member in this family [was] not have the same title that the other grandchildren would have “, and she said there was conversations at about the same time about “how” Archie’s skin would look.
Meghan cited a “convention” according to which the monarch’s grandchildren have the title of prince or princess. According to the protocol established by King George V in 1917, the children and grandchildren of a sovereign are automatically entitled to the title of His Royal Highness, or His Royal Highness, and to the title of Prince or Princess. This extension does not apply to the great-grandchildren of a monarch, although Queen Elizabeth made an exception by giving the titles to William’s children because they are directly in the succession line.
When Archie was born, Harry and Meghan announced his name like Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, the surname used by the royal family. But, as Meghan pointed out in the interview, Archie and girl, they are waiting this summer he would have the right to become a prince and princess when Harry’s father, Prince Charles, became king.
“Even with that convention I’m talking about – while I was pregnant, they said they wanted to change the convention for Archie. Well, why?” Meghan said. She said she never received an answer.
Although Charles never specifically spoke about the titles of Harry and Archie, the Daily Mail reported in 2019 that Charles wanted to reduce the number of family members with real titles, especially after the scandal about Prince Andrew connection with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Former labor leader Jeremy Corbyn also said in 2019 that there is “the issue of family size and everything they do, but I think the public as a whole would like to see this kind of change and the debate around the behavior of Prince Andrew really brought it up. “
But at the time, it was reported that Charles wanted to keep the titles for his children and their wives and children. In the line of succession after Queen Elizabeth II, Charles is the first, William is the second and William’s children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis are the third, fourth and fifth. William’s younger brother, Harry, is now the sixth in line to the throne, Archie is the seventh and Harry and Meghan’s daughter will be the eighth.
In addition to William’s three children, Queen Elizabeth’s other five great-grandchildren have no titles, although it is unclear whether this is by choice. For example, Princess Anne and her ex-husband chose not to give titles to their children, and none of Anne’s grandchildren also have titles.
When Harry’s parents divorced, his mother Diana lost the correct use of HRH, and she received the title courtesy of Diana, Princess of Wales. When Harry and Meghan separate from the royal family – after Archie was born – they agreed to remove HRH from their positions as well. But Harry is still a prince and the couple also retain the titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Meghan told Oprah that the title of Archie was not “her decision” or Harry’s, but “this is their birthright so they can make a choice”.
Meghan said the conversation they had with palace officials about the level of security they would receive was also linked to whether Archie was a prince or not. She said it was the security protection – not the real status – that she really cared about.
“All the greatness around these things is an attachment that I personally don’t have,” she said. “I was once a waitress, actress, princess, duchess, I was always just Meghan. So, for me, I am sure of who I am, regardless of these things, and the most important title I will ever have is Mom. I know that. the idea of our son not being safe and also the idea that the first colored member in this family did not have the same title that the other grandchildren would have. ”
Meghan said that they were not asked to take the traditional photo of the front of the hospital after Archie was born, because he would not be a prince.
At the same time, when she was still pregnant, she said there were also conversations going on in the royal family about “how dark” Archie’s skin would be.
“In the months that I was pregnant, almost at the same time, we had in parallel the conversation that he would not be safe, would not receive a title, and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he is born,” said Meghan .
“What?” Oprah asked. “Who’s having this conversation with you? What?”
“There were several conversations,” said Meghan, specifying, “with Harry.”
Meghan did not say who had the conversation, noting that “it would be very damaging to them”. She said it was passed on to her by Harry.
“It was very difficult to see this as compartmentalized conversations,” she said.
Harry said it was not a conversation he wanted to discuss. Oprah said he later clarified that it was not your grandma or grandpa who made the comment.
In addition to Queen Elizabeth making a special layoff for William’s children, there have been other changes to the protocol over the years involving titles and even the line of succession. For example, in 2013, Queen Elizabeth amended the Crown Succession Act to end the male birthright system, where a younger son took precedence over an older daughter. Due to this change. Princess Charlotte remains fourth in line to the throne, instead of her younger brother displacing her.