Harry and Meghan: Archie and Lilibet will not be announced until after period of mourning

There will be no announcement on any future titles for Harry and Meghan’s children during the period of royal mourning.

Following the death of their great-grandmother, Archie and Lilibet are sixth and seventh in line to the throne, and are entitled to be called prince and princess.

But Buckingham Palace has refused to confirm if this will officially happen.

And yesterday a spokesman for King Charles said it was ‘unlikely’ that any announcement would be made until at least September 26, when the period of royal mourning ends. 

They told the Daily Mail: ‘The King is focused on the mourning period so it is unlikely [any announcement would be made] on other titles during that period.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex pictured with daughter Lilibet and son Archie shortly before Christmas last year

Harry became visibly emotional as he and Meghan paid their respects to the Queen’s coffin in Westminster Hall

Prince William and Prince Harry walk behind King Charles III during the procession from Buckingham Palace on Wednesday 

‘The future is an amazing thing. I am sure that at some point there will be discussion, but not during the royal mourning period.’

The Sun newspaper claimed that ‘tense’ discussions had taken place over the issue.

The Sussexes stopped using their HRH styles in 2020 when they stepped down from royal duties.

Archie, three and Lilibet, one, became elgible for the titles on the death of the Queen under rules set out by King George V in 1917 limiting the number of royal family members able to claim a HRH title.

His Letters Patent -a written order of the monarch’s wishes- restricted royals allowed to use an HRH title to the children of the sovereign, the children of the sovereign’s sons, and the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales.

In 2012, prior to George’s birth in 2013 and not knowing whether William’s first child would be a boy or a girl, the Queen issued a new Letters Patent giving the HRH title to all children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales – which is why George, Charlotte and Louis are equally styled.

The issue was widely discussed after Meghan accused the Royal Family of treating her son differently in her bombshell Oprah interview – intimating she believed it was because of race.

When Archie was born, he could have used the title of Earl of Dumbarton as a great-grandson of the Queen, but his parents chose not adopt it – and he could not be a prince.

‘They were saying they didn’t want him to be a prince or princess, which would be different from protocol, and that he wasn’t going to receive security,’ Meghan told Oprah.

‘This went on for the last few months of our pregnancy where I was going, hold on for a second.’

The duchess insisted that no suitable explanation was given for why Archie wasn’t going to be a prince, despite the rules being clear.

 

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the Prince and Princess of Wales at Westminster Hall in London yesterday

The Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on the Long Walk at Windsor Castle on Saturday