Why is Archie not a prince? Fact-checking prince protocol after Meghan and Harry’s Oprah interview

Why is Archie, the young son of Prince Harry and Meghan, not a prince? That emerged as a murky question in the aftermath of the couple’s generally revealing interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Meghan said that the royal family had decided before he was born not to grant Archie the title and the designation His Royal Highness, suggesting that it was linked to their concerns about the color of the baby’s skin.

Under a royal convention, established by King George V in 1917, Archie was not given the title of prince at his birth, since he was a great-grandson — not a son or grandson — of the reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. Were his grandfather, Prince Charles, to ascend the throne, Archie would automatically assume the title of prince, provided the royal family sticks to the rules.

But Meghan said that during her pregnancy, the royal family discussed changing the rules to deprive Archie of the princely title permanently. “I think even with that convention I’m talking about, while I was pregnant, they said they want to change the convention for Archie,” she said.

Around the same time, she said, there were “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.”

Prince Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah Winfrey left many observers of the British royal family puzzling over one question: Why doesn’t their son Archie have the title of prince?

Meghan, who married Harry in 2018, said she was shocked to discover while she was pregnant that Archie would not get the title of prince or any associated security. 

"They were saying they didn't want him to be a prince or a princess — not knowing what the gender would be — which would be different from protocol," Meghan said.

Meghan expressed concern over "the idea of our son not being safe, and also the idea of the first member of color in this family not being titled in the same way that other grandchildren would be." 

Under existing convention, Archie could be named a prince should his grandfather, Prince Charles, ascend the throne, since children and male-line grandchildren of the king or queen receive the title of prince or princess. But Queen Elizabeth II made exceptions for Prince William's offspring, announcing years ago that they would all be princes and princesses.

According to Meghan, it's possible Archie would not be afforded either opportunity to become prince, based on conversations that she said took place while she was pregnant.

Asked by Winfrey if she thought Archie’s mixed race was a reason he didn’t get the title, Meghan said that there were "also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born."

Some people watching the interview pointed out that Archie was not given the prince title at birth because of rules laid down by King George V more than 100 years ago. 

King George V in 1917 limited which members of the royal family would have the status of "HRH," or His or Her Royal Highness. His declaration reserved prince and princess titles for the children of the monarch, the grandchildren of the monarch in the male line, and the eldest son of the Prince of Wales, according to the Guardian.

Archie is the queen’s great-grandson, so he was born without the prince title. 

But he could take the title on in the event that Charles becomes king.

At another point in the interview, Meghan described that possibility to Winfrey. "When Harry’s dad becomes king, automatically Archie and our next baby would become prince or princess," Meghan said. 

Harry and Archie are currently sixth and seventh in line to the throne, respectively, although they could slide further down the line of succession as the family of Prince William grows. Meghan and Harry’s second child — a girl expected this summer, they revealed — will be eighth.

William’s oldest son, George, was a prince at birth because he, like William, is directly in line for the throne. But in 2012, the queen issued her own decree declaring that all of William's children would get the titles of prince and princess — a move she did not repeat for Archie.

Meghan told Winfrey that on the contrary, the royal family had actually discussed adopting new rules to bar Archie from ever being a prince. "I think even with that convention I’m talking about, while I was pregnant, they said they want to change the convention for Archie," she said.

The Guardian reported that such a change would align with Charles’ purported wish to shrink the monarchy. "What Prince Charles will do when he ascends the throne under a slimmed down monarchy is really what she’s talking about," said Carolyn Durand, the author of "Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of A Modern Royal Family," March 8 on CNN.

Archie was entitled to be Earl of Dumbarton when he was born in 2019. Harry and Meghan named him Archie Mountbatten-Windsor instead. Meghan disputed claims that they had not wanted Archie to carry the prince title, telling Winfrey she cared about the security.

Several other members of the royal family do not have titles, according to People, although the queen has reportedly offered to extend titles to some of them. For example, the children of Princess Anne, Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall, are grandchildren of the queen who don’t have royal titles. 

At the time of Archie’s birth, in May 2019, British newspapers reported that Harry and Meghan had no problems with his not being a prince because they wanted their son to have as normal a childhood as possible. He would be known as “Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor,” the double-barreled surname of Harry’s family.

In the interview, however, Meghan disputed this contention. The title itself was not important, but it entitles its holder to security protection, which she said mattered deeply to her and to Harry.

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Under the convention, Prince William’s eldest son, George, was a prince at birth because, as the firstborn child of the firstborn child of the Prince of Wales, he is a direct successor to the throne. But the queen issued so-called “letters patent” that ensured that William’s other two children, Charlotte and Louis, were also a princess and prince at birth — something she did not do for Archie.

Meghan said she had viewed this as discriminatory treatment. She said she had objected to Archie’s not being a prince because “it’s not their right to take it away,” and because of security concerns. She expressed anger at “the idea of our son not being safe, and also the idea of the first member of color in this family not being titled in the same way that other grandchildren would be.”