That's it, it's official ! Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle are parents for the second time. Their son Archie becomes the big brother of a little Lilibet "Lili" Diana. Will the latter have a title of nobility?
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced a happy event yesterday. Their second child, a daughter named Lilibet "Lili" Diana, was born Friday, June 4, at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, USA. Her first names are tributes to Queen Elizabeth II, nicknamed Lilibet by her father, and to Lady Diana, Prince Harry's mother. The wishes of congratulations were chained all day Sunday following this announcement and many Internet users questioned the possibility that the daughter of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle could wear a title of nobility. Like his big brother Archie, it shouldn't be.
The Sussexes are no longer part of the working members of the royal family and have chosen to live in retirement in the United States. In their explosive interview recently granted to Oprah Winfrey, the couple revealed that their son Archie had been refused the title of prince while his cousins George, Charlotte and Louis, children of Kate and William, had obtained it. According to the rules issued by King George V in 1917, only the sovereign's children and grandchildren can obtain the predicate His Royal Highness and the title of prince or princess. Archie was therefore unable to obtain a royal title being the great-grandson of Elizabeth II. That said, he will be able to benefit from the title of prince the day his grandfather, the Prince of Wales Charles becomes king. But then why are the children of the Cambridge couple, for their part, princes and princesses?
The reason is simple and it is a question of order of succession. Indeed, George was able to obtain this title because his father will one day be king and the couple's first child will be too. As for Charlotte and Louis, it was the queen herself who ensured that, as children of the future king, they could benefit from titles. Prince Harry who will, in theory, never be king cannot therefore ask for the attribution of titles to his children.
Meghan and Harry's first born is only called Master Archie Harrisson Mountbatten-Windsor and his little sister should also receive the same distinction with a Miss added in front of her first name, which would thus give Miss Lilibet "Lili" Diana Mountbatten- Windsor. The latter is eighth in the order of succession to the British throne after her grandfather, Prince Charles, who will be the first, her uncle, Prince William, in second position and her cousins, Princes and Princess George, Charlotte and Louis who are respectively third, fourth and fifth. She is also listed after her father, Prince Harry, who is sixth in the line of succession and her older brother Archie Harrison who is seventh on the list. As a reminder, and according to the words of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Lilibet “Lili” Diana is the second and will be the last child of the couple, who does not wish to have more.
