Meghan And Harry: Why Is Their Son Archie Not A Prince?

Why is Archie not a prince? As the conversation builds on multiple accusations against Buckingham Palace, in the aftermath of the tell-all Meghan Markle interview with Oprah Winfrey, a key issue that has raised alarms concerns royal baby Archie. Amid claims of Markle and Prince Harry's son having been subjected to racism at the palace, given his mixed-race heritage, there is now renewed scrutiny over the fact that he was not honoured with a royal title at birth, as were his cousins.

In light of the controversy, Buckingham on behalf of the Queen issued a statement saying she was "saddened" by what her grandson, Prince Harry, and his family went through at the palace. The racism claim has been dubbed "concerning" and will, as per the statement, be discussed privately in the family.

As discussions purpotedly ensue at Buckingham, the spotlight is on Archie and his princely title. While there are royal rules to back it, Markle is of the belief that a bigger force was at play in her son not getting a title.

Why Is Archie Not A Prince? Explained In 5 Points

1. King George V ruled the United Kingdom between 1910 and 1936. Seven years after accession to the throne, he issued a decree that said only the eldest son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales will be entitled to the royal titles ‘His Royal Highness’ and ‘Prince.’

2. In the case of the current royal family, this honour belongs to Prince George, the first son of Prince William-Kate Middleton, and the oldest grandson of Charles, Prince of Wales.

3. In 2012, however, Queen Elizabeth intervened to tweak the original 1917 decree a bit. The Letters Patent she issued said that all the children of the Duke of Cambridge (i.e. Prince William) would be bestowed with royal titles. So when the Cambridge couple's other kids came along, they were titled, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

4. Since Prince Harry is the younger son of Charles, the royal title honour will not extend to his children. At least, not yet.  Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, born May 2019 to Harry and Meghan Markle, will only receive the 'Prince' title once (if) his grandfather becomes King. Archie is currently seventh in line to the throne.

5. However, in her explosive sit-down with Oprah Winfrey, that continues to send shockwaves across the world, Meghan Markle suggested that there was more to play in Archie's royal title than mere convention. Her claim is the palace tried to modify even the grandfather-grandson rule in a bid to keep Archie off the throne forever. "I think even with that convention... they said they want to change the convention for Archie," she said.

There is high-octane debate around whether devoiding Archie of his royal title was a result of plain convention or differential treatment, especially in light of the couple's allegations of racism at Buckingham.

Why is Archie not a prince? Per rules? Or per differential treatment?

Markle, who is now pregnant with her second child, says the couple's concerns didn't come from the lack of a royal title for Archie, but from the lack of royal peotection it would thus bring. To that end, Prince Harry said that the palace even "literally cut" the two adults off financially, ending their security detail as well.

"Their justification was a change in status," he said, referring to their step-down from royal roles in 2019. There was talk, he said, of urging Markle to restart her acting career - something she gave up at marriage - to personally pay for security.

For more on the Harry-Meghan-Oprah interview, read here.