As per the conventions, full-time working royals are entitled to get security and other perks from the taxpayers money.Soon after the explosive Meghan Markel interview went on air, it came to light that it was not Prince Harry and his wife Meghan who had decided to not add a Royal prefix in the name of their first child Archie. At the time of his birth, both his parents had said that it was of their volition they had decided to not use any Royal title before the name of their son. However, in the recent interview, Markel claimed that it was not their decision after all and Archie was denied the Royal title even before he was born by the Royal family. Markel also said that Archie’s skin colour may have been one of the considerations behind denying him the royal title. An Indian Express report detailed the royal procedure which is followed while bestowing titles on the newborn members of the royal family.
Protocol to give titles
Prince Harry’s great-great-grandfather, King George V, in the year 1917 had issued an order according to which only those members of the Royal lineage be given HRH(His or Her Royal Highness) titles who were in direct line to the throne of the United Kingdom which meant children and grand children of the present monarch.
The order had also stated that barring the eldest great-grandchildren of the monarch, all other great-grandchildren would not automatically qualify to become the prince or princess. In accordance with this order, only Prince George, who is the eldest son of Prince Williams(who is third in line to the throne) has got the title of Prince. Hence Archie, who is seventh in line to the throne is not qualified to assume the title of Prince for now. However, when Prince Charles, who is the grandfather of Archie becomes the King of Britain, Archie would automatically qualify to assume the title of Prince.
Hinting at the above explained procedure, Meghan in her interview said that the Royal family was allegedly trying to change the procedure in order to deprive Archie of the Prince title. In the interview she said that the Royal family wanted to change the convention as Archie would be the first coloured member of the family.
What are the present titles of Prince William’s children?
As per the order issued by King George V, only the eldest son of Prince William, George is entitled to be called Prince. However, in a 2013 special order issued by Queen Elizabeth II, all children of Prince William were bestowed with the title of Prince and Princess respectively. However unlike his cousins, Archie was not bestowed with any title at the time of his birth. It was understood to be a decision taken by her parents but after the allegations of Meghan Markel, it seems there is more to it than meets the eye.
What are the perks of having a Royal title?
In the same interview, Meghan was asked if she wanted her son to get the title and she responded in affirmative explaining that if the title meant strengthened security for her son then she would want the title. As per the conventions, full-time working royals are entitled to get security and other perks from the taxpayers money. However, not all royal title holders are entitled to these perks as Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markel were provided with the security and other perks as long as they were full-time working royals. But post their decision to settle in North America, their senior Royal status ended.
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