DO ARCHIE AND LILIBET REALLY NEED ROYAL TITLES?
There has been much debate about whether Prince Harry and Meghan's son and daughter Archie and Lilibet will or should receive royal titles now that Harry's father is King. This issue of titles is governed by a letters patent written by King George V in 1917. The rule is as follows, per wikipedia:
"These letters patent, dated 30 November 1917, stated that "the children of any Sovereign of these Realms and the children of the sons of any such Sovereign (as per the above Letters Patent of 1864) and the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales (a modification of the Letters Patent of 1898) shall have and at all times hold and enjoy the style, title or attribute of Royal Highness with their titular dignity of Prince or Princess prefixed to their respective Christian names or with their other titles of honour". It was also decreed in these letters that "grandchildren of the sons of any such Sovereign in the direct male line ... shall have and enjoy in all occasions the style and title enjoyed by the children of Dukes of these Our Realms" (i.e., Lord or Lady before their Christian name).[8][9] In addition the letters stated save as aforesaid the style title or attribute of Royal Highness, Highness or Serene Highness and the titular dignity of Prince or Princess shall not henceforth be assumed or borne by any descendant of any Sovereign of these Realms."
This letters patent was used to justify denying Archie and Lilibet royal titles to begin with because when the children were born, they were the great-grandchildren of the monarch, Elizabeth II, and grandchildren of the firstborn MALE son of the reigning monarch.
Curiously, other great grand-children, namely the children of William and Kate, the Prince and Princess of Wales, were automatically given prince and princess status at birth because, apparently, they were the children of the son of the firstborn heir apparent. But according to what the gobbledegook says, it sounds like all males in the line of accession (this would include Harry) have the right to prince and princess as do their children. So it is not altogether clear what the whole brouhaha about titles was about in the first place.
But that all being said, now that the Queen has passed on to her eternity, the question of titles has once again come up. It is not just about whether the children will be called Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet but also whether they will be given the HRH handles, so "His Royal Highness Prince Archie" and "Her Royal Highness Princess Lilibet."
Many in the British population have expressed that the children should not be given any titles at all, given that Prince Harry and Meghan have "abandoned" the monarchy and have chosen to live in California. There appears to be no geographical exceptions to the letters patent issued by George V as far as the eyes can read at this time.
However, as of this moment, even though both Lilibet and Archie are heirs to the British throne, they are listed as Master Archie and Miss Lilibet on the royal family's website, rather than as Prince and Princess. The media has made a big deal of this - almost a bigger deal than the seating arrangements to which Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan have been relegated since they stepped down as working royals.
The question is whether Harry and Meghan should accept official royal titles for their children at this point or whether they should respectfully decline these titles. After all, other members of the British monarchy do not have royal titles. Princess Anne's children do not have royal titles, for example, neither do the children of Prince Edward, the Queen's youngest son. So the conventional wisdom is that if it is good enough for Princess Anne's children and Prince Edward's children, why is it not good enough for Meghan's children?
Princess Anne and Prince Edward (children of the monarch) of course were given a choice and chose to decline royal titles for their children, one can be certain. Anne, obviously, is FEMALE and so her children would have been subjected to different rules anyway. But without doubt, she was given a choice. Ditto for Prince Edward who is not the "eldest son" by any means but who likely received a choice of what to call his children.
In like manner, Prince Harry (child of the monarch) should be given a choice whether to accept or decline royal titles for his children because according to the established rules, they are entitled to inherit these titles as of right. Both the media and many in the British public would like to take away the choice completely, or randomly change the laws to exclude the children that Prince Harry had with Meghan.
It is not like the children are "illegitimate" such as is the case of the children of Prince Albert in Monaco. In this case, only the children of the marriage are prince and princess. He has a couple of other children outside of wedlock, one notably mixed race, who were not given the title of prince and princess because they were born out of wedlock.
While that is a controversial decision, it might be understandable nevertheless. In Harry and Meghan's case, it is not at all understandable why these children are being treated like chopped liver and why the choice of title has been denied their parents. The argument that it is a question of geography is comically weak. They did not become illegitimate just because of their geography and for that matter, Archie Harrison was born in England while his parents were living there full time, yet he was denied his title based on dubious rationales.
That all being said, Harry and Meghan should probably decline royal titles for their children for the following reasons:
1. The children will have a more private life without these titles (one can hope)
2. It would make the British people happy if the children do not have titles and thus they will be less likely to harp at these children or attack them in any way.
3. Titles are actually kind of random and silly and in the end does not change who are person is.
The thing with these letters patent, they are not really "laws" per se and can be changed at will by each monarch. So, in theory, Charles or William (once he inherits the throne) can change that rule to exclude Meghan's children. Meghan should get ahead of this issue and save her children from the humiliation by declining these titles in the first place.
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