From Good Housekeeping
Traditionally, citizenship is not a big issue for babies in the royal family – one of the advantages of being related to the queen is that British citizenship is normally guaranteed. But the Sussex family is not inclined to follow tradition, so it may be natural that when it comes to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s second child, even something as basic as citizenship is not entirely straightforward.
Part of the confusion comes from Harry and Meghan’s marriage of mixed citizenship; Harry, of course, being British, and Meghan, an American. Although it was announced in 2018, when they married, that Meghan intended to become a British citizen, the process could take several years to complete. In the meantime, of course, the couple chose to move away from their positions as working members of the royal family and moved to Los Angeles, questioning the status of Meghan’s change in citizenship or whether she still intends to see the change through. For now, it appears that Meghan remains an American citizen (she voted in the 2020 presidential election, probably being the first member of the British royal family to do so) and would also be her children.
Harry, on the other hand, remains a British citizen – in 2020, when they moved to the U.S., sources told the Times that the Prince did not intend to apply for a green card or dual citizenship. Given that British citizenship can be passed on to a generation under British law, any child of Harry would therefore be eligible to qualify as a British citizen.
The couple’s first child, Archie, was born in the UK on May 6, 2019, has dual citizenship and, except for some dramatic decisions by Harry or Meghan to renounce citizenship in the months ahead of the baby’s arrival, it seems likely that your second child will have equal rights as American and British as well.
You may also like