What the New Royal Baby's Title Is
Prince George and Princess Charlotte officially have a new royal sibling-and that little boy was born with a title just as fancy as theirs. But like all things British royalty, the specifics are complicated, and affected by tradition. Here’s what you need to know.
Prince William and Kate Middleton’s new baby has a long title, regardless of how it’s styled. His official title is His Royal Highness Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
But that's not the title he'll go by. “Royal children are ‘styled’ differently if they are the children of a royal duke,” says Marlene Koenig, a royal historian and writer of the Royal Musings blog. Kensington Palace announced that his title is styled His Royal Highness Prince Louis Arthur Charles of Cambridge. That’s because Prince William and Kate Middleton are the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Technically, the royal baby is a commoner, at least for now. “It sounds complicated, but in the U.K, the only people who are not commoners are the Sovereign and peers of the realm, [people with titles like] Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, and Baron,” Koenig says. So Prince William is not a commoner, but Prince Harry is, though that could change if the Queen gives him a title in celebration of his May wedding to Meghan Markle.
The royal baby is next in line to the throne behind his sister, Princess Charlotte, because of a new succession law based on birth order, not sex. But that will probably be all the little one will do for now. “I don’t think the baby will have much of a role for some years apart from looking cute in family photos!” Koenig jokes.
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