Prince Harry and Meghan’s Children Get New Royal Titles After Queen's Death
King Charles III has the power to strip their new titles.
Queen Elizabeth II has died at the age of 96. Her 73-year-old son, Charles, is now king, and his wife, Camilla, is queen consort.
The queen’s death means that Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan’s children, Archie, 3, and Lilibet, 1, are now technically a prince and princess with the right to style themselves as HRH.
However, in their incendiary 2020 interview with Oprah Winfrey, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said they had been told that Charles would change these protocols upon becoming king so that his grandchildren would no longer have the right to have the titles prince or princess.
Related: Where Will the Queen be Buried?
King Charles III issued a statement today in which he paid tribute to his “beloved mother.”
He said that the death of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch—who celebrated her platinum jubilee following 70 years on the throne in June—was a “moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family”.
“We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished sovereign and a much-loved mother,” he went on.
The new king and queen are remaining at Balmoral Castle in Scotland tonight before traveling to London tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Prince William and Duchess Kate have changed their Instagram handle to reflect their new titles, the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and Cambridge.
It is expected that in due course William will be invested as the Prince of Wales, but although he automatically inherited his father’s former title Duke of Cornwall the power to invest him as Prince of Wales lies with the king.
William’s wife, Kate, is now a queen in waiting. Their son, Prince George is now second in line to the throne, Princess Charlotte is third in line, and Prince Louis is fourth.
While William traveled to Balmoral with other members of the royal family, Kate stayed behind on the Windsor estate to collect their children from the first day of their new school, Lambrook.
The Cambridges moved from Kensington Palace in London to Adelaide Cottage in Windsor only last week, while Meghan is less than 900 yards away in the Sussexes’ UK residence of Frogmore Cottage.
Next up, Queen Elizabeth II's Funeral Date, Location and More Details
