As Meghan and Harry’s son Archie celebrates his seventh birthday as a Prince next week, how his title has been fraught with controversy from the get-go
Just a few weeks after the Duchess of Sussex faced backlash for ‘monetising’ her children and releasing candles inspired by them in their honour, her son Prince Archie will be celebrating his birthday on May 6.
The King’s grandson will be basking in the festivities in Montecito, across the pond from the UK – where his parents gave up being working royals in 2020.
Archie’s title has been fraught with controversy since months before that, when Prince Harry, 41, and Meghan Markle, 44, first welcomed their baby boy.
Born on May 6, 2019 at London‘s private Portland Hospital, rather than the traditional Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital, the Sussexes chose to deviate from royal convention by refusing the traditional press photo call following the birth.
However, the greatest scandal surrounding the young royal’s birth seemed to relate to his title. Or, indeed, lack thereof.
Shortly after Archie’s birth, Meghan announced that Archie would be a ‘private citizen’ without a title as they did not want the youngster to be bound by convention or history.
The couple were insistent that they wanted their son to be known as plain ‘Mister Archie’ and not bear the title of royal, which was done to help preserve his privacy.
At the time, journalists such as Omid Scobie, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex ’s future biographer, gushed that this decision was ‘all part’ of their desire to give their son ‘as normal a life as possible’.
Just a few weeks after the Duchess of Sussex faced backlash for ‘monetising’ her children and releasing candles inspired by them in their honour, her son Prince Archie will be celebrating his birthday on May 6
However, during her and Harry’s notorious Oprah Winfrey interview in 2021, Meghan declared that the Royal Family had in fact denied Archie a title, while also suggesting that this decision was linked to concerns over his skin colour.
In a televised interview watched by almost 50 million people, Meghan told the American chat-show host that becoming a Prince was neither her nor Harry’s ‘decision to make’ and said it was palace officials who revealed Archie ‘wasn’t going to receive security’.
‘It’s not their right to take away [his title],’ Meghan said.
When Ms Winfrey asked if it was ‘because of his race’, the former actress replied: ‘In those months when I was pregnant… we (had) the conversation of, “He won’t be given security, he’s not going to be given a title”. And, also, concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.’
When asked if it was ‘important’ for Meghan that Archie be called a prince, Meghan said she doesn’t have any attachment to the ‘grandeur’ of official titles.
In a televised interview watched by almost 50 million people, Meghan told Oprah Winfrey that becoming a Prince was neither her nor Harry’s ‘decision to make’ and said it was palace officials who revealed Archie ‘wasn’t going to receive security’
Archie and Lilibet (pictured), now four, were not ‘prince’ and ‘princess’ at birth because they were not grandchildren of the monarch at the time. However, they gained the right to these titles when King Charles acceded to the throne in 2022
Then, it later transpired that the Sussexes had allegedly been offered a title for Archie – Lord Dumbarton – but had turned it down due to fears that their son may be mocked or ridiculed as it contained the word ‘dumb’.
A source told The Telegraph in 2021: ‘They didn’t like the idea of Archie being called the Earl of Dumbarton because it began with the word “dumb” [and] they were worried about how that might look.’
Another insider told the paper: ‘It wasn’t just Meghan who pointed out the potential pitfalls, it also bothered Harry.’
According to royal author Tom Bower, when Meghan heard the news that Archie would automatically get the title of Lord Dumbarton, the Duchess said: ‘Hell no. No son of mine is going to be called Dumb’.
In his 2022 book Revenge, he wrote that she was told the news by Sir Thomas Woodcock, the Garter of Arms, when he called her to discuss Archie’s titles soon after he was born in May 2019.
When Harry and Meghan got married the previous year, as well as gaining their more commonly used titles for England, it was announced they would also be referred to as the Earl of Dumbarton in Scotland and the Baron Kilkeel in Northern Ireland.
But despite already being the Countess of Dumbarton herself, Meghan was said to be upset at the news it would also be used by her son, according to Bower.
In fact, Archie and Lilibet, now four, were not ‘prince’ and ‘princess’ at birth because they were not grandchildren of the monarch at the time. However, they gained the right to these titles when King Charles acceded to the throne in 2022.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams explained that Archie’s lack of title was irrespective of security.
‘Those who were grandchildren of the Sovereign in the male line automatically received titles and Archie and Lilibet are currently entitled to use Prince and Princess as shown on the royal website,’ he said.
‘Meghan’s belief that security and the issue of the title were linked was obviously nonsense.’
Harry and Meghan are understood to be keen to not deny their children, Archie and Lilibet, their birthright, but to allow them the chance to decide for themselves when they are older whether to drop or keep using their titles.
However, the decision raised some eyebrows after Prince Harry’s repeated criticism of the monarchy, including his accusation that his family carried out ‘total neglect’ in the past and saying he suffered ‘genetic pain’.
He has also since spoken about his own struggles with his own title, saying in 2017 that his time in the Army was the ‘best escape I ever had’ because ‘I wasn’t a prince, I was just Harry’.
Following the row, royal commentator Emily Andrews tweeted in March 2023: ‘The perennial question still remains; if being a royal is so traumatic, such a burden, carries so much inter-generational pain why would you want to style your kids prince and princess/keep your own royal titles….??’
When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced their departure from the Firm in 2022, Buckingham Palace’s statement insisted that the royal couple ‘will not use their HRH titles’.
