Harry and Meghan 'hoped' Palace would announce kids' titles

(Image credit: Getty)

published 16 March 2023

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are thought to have 'hoped' that the Royal Family would have announced their children's Prince and Princess titles before they did.

Harry and Meghan announced Archie and Lilibet's new titles after the christening of one-year-old Lilibet.
But a royal expert has now claimed the Sussexes were hoping that Buckingham Palace would have 'jumped the gun' and announced the news first.
In other royal news, t his is why King Charles won't face the Royal Family during his Coronation service.

When the Queen passed away in September 2022 and Charles became King, Harry and Meghan's children, Archie and Lilibet, automatically became entitled to use "Prince" and "Princess" titles due to being grandchildren of the monarch.

It was unsure whether Harry and Meghan chose to uphold these titles, but it has since been confirmed following Lilibet's christening that they will be using their royal titles.

Following a statement that called their daughter "Princess Lilibet Diana," Harry and Meghan later said, "The children’s titles have been a birthright since their grandfather became Monarch. This matter has been settled for some time in alignment with Buckingham Palace."

Shortly after this statement, the Palace changed the children's titles to Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet in the royal line of succession.

But now, reports are suggesting that King Charles felt "blindsided" by the Sussexes' decision to suddenly use the Prince and Princess titles.

A royal expert, Ingrid Seward, told The Mirror that the announcement didn't go how Harry and Meghan had hoped. She says the couple hoped the Palace would announce Archie and Lilibet's titles first. But instead, the Palace issued a statement to announce that Prince Edward had become the Duke of Edinburgh and his wife Sophie the Duchess of Edinburgh.

Ingrid said, "The contrast between the way in which Harry and Meghan released the news of their children's royal titles and the way King Charles announced his brother's ennoblement was stark.

"King Charles issued a formal statement from Buckingham Palace to say he was ‘pleased’ to confer the Dukedom of Edinburgh upon Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Forfar."

The royal commentator added, "It was such a grand announcement it felt as if it were in a gilded frame pinned to the Buckingham Palace railings."

"Harry and Meghan, on the other hand, asked their spokesperson to announce when their 21-month-old daughter Lilibet was christened in Los Angeles last week she would be baptized using the royal style princess. Archie in turn would use the style, Prince."

"How interesting they waited six months to do this. They were hoping the Palace would jump the gun and announce it before they did. No such luck."

She concluded that Buckingham Palace had "left their website intact" and "allowed the Sussexes to make the move themselves" so they "couldn’t complain."

This comes after it was revealed that Archie and Lilibet 'have not been invited' to the King's Coronation Ceremony in May.

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Robyn is a celebrity and entertainment journalist and editor with over eight years experience in the industry. As well as contributing regular to woman&home, she also often writes for Woman, Woman's Own, Woman's Weekly and The Sun.