‘King knew’ Lilibet would be named princess

Harry and Meghan corresponded with King Charles saying they would start referring to their children as prince and princess; the Palace offered to update its website to give the children their titles.

Meghan, and Archie, who is now formally known as Prince Archie. Picture: AFP.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have ended months of confusion over the titles of their children Archie and Lilibet by revealing that they have started to refer to them as prince and princess.

They gained the right to use the titles when the King acceded to the throne but the lack of official recognition that they are now Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet prompted speculation that Charles was reluctant to acknowledge his grandchildren’s status. The children have remained plain “master” and “miss” on the Buckingham Palace website for the past six months.

Those doubts have been dispelled after the Sussexes issued an official statement about their daughter’s christening in California which referred to her as Princess Lilibet Diana.

Archie with a picture of his grandmother Princess Diana. Picture: Netflix

Harry and Meghan pose for their Christmas card last year with Archie and Lilibet. Picture: Alexi Lubomirski/The Times

It is understood the King knew the Sussexes intended to call their daughter Princess Lilibet as there had been correspondence about it. The Palace confirmed to the couple last year that the children were, and would remain, prince and princess, The Times understands. But although there was surprise in Montecito that their children’s titles were not updated online, Harry and Meghan did not ask for the website to be changed. The Palace offered to change its website only when the news broke last week about the couple being asked to leave Frogmore Cottage.

The King and Queen and the Prince and Princess of Wales were all invited to the christening, People magazine reported, but did not attend. A spokesman for the Sussexes confirmed Princess Lilibet Diana was “christened on Friday, March 3” by the Rt Rev John H Taylor, the bishop of Los Angeles.

Taylor is a former newspaper reporter who was chief of staff to Richard Nixon, the former US president, and director of the Richard Nixon Library. Nixon used to call Taylor “our house liberal”.

Meghan with baby Lilibet. Picture: Netflix

Archie and Lilibet have officially been allowed to use the titles prince and princess since the death of Queen Elizabeth under rules set out by King George V in 1917. However, neither the Palace nor the Sussexes had used the titles before the christening.

It is understood Archie and Lilibet’s royal titles will be restricted to formal settings rather than everyday use. Harry and Meghan are understood to be keen not to deny their children their birthright but will let them decide whether they want to use the titles when they are older.

An insider told People magazine there were 20 to 30 guests at the christening ceremony, including Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, Lilibet’s godfather, Tyler Perry, and an unnamed godmother.

Perry, the actor and producer who lent the Sussexes his home when they moved to California, flew in for the ceremony from his home in Atlanta, Georgia, with a ten-strong gospel choir that sang Oh Happy Day and This Little Light of Mine, a song that was played at Harry and Meghan’s wedding.

Archie’s official christening photograph: (L-R) Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Ms Doria Ragland, Lady Jane Fellowes, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge in the Green Drawing Room at Windsor Castle. Picture: Chris Allerton/SussexRoyal via Getty Images.

The question of Archie and Lilibet’s titles has been a source of confusion since the death of the Queen. It had been reported the King had struggled to decide whether to let them use the terms prince and princess, which had heightened tensions with the Sussexes.

Harry and Meghan have not been allowed to refer to themselves as His or Her Royal Highness since stepping down from royal duties. However, the children’s titles are conferred automatically under the 1917 rules because they are children of the son of the sovereign.

Archie and Lilibet, who are sixth and seventh in line to the throne, are listed on the Buckingham Palace website as Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor and Miss Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor. The reaction of Buckingham Palace to the Sussexes’ announcement suggested that they had been waiting for Harry and Meghan to take the lead.

Lilibet on her first birthday. Picture: Misan Harriman.

Archie with Meghan on the beach. Picture: CBS

A source said the Sussexes had been entitled to use the titles since the King’s accession and, now that the Sussexes had confirmed the titles, the website would be updated “in due course”.

At the time of the Queen’s death, a spokesman for the King pledged to update Archie and Lilibet’s names on the site “as and when we get information”. However they will not be HRHs because their father’s HRH is “in abeyance”, a source said.

Meghan suggested Archie was not given the title of prince because of his race in her 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, the American talk show host.

However, when Archie was born seventh in line to the throne in May 2019, he was too far down the line of succession to be given the title. Although he was a great-grandchild of the monarch, he was not a firstborn son of a future king so was not automatically a prince.

The Times