No 'Prince' title for Archie may have led to Harry and Meghan's Oprah interview
Amidst news of reconciliation between Meghan Markle and Prince Harry and the British royal family, it's now being reported that Prince Charles won't let grandson Archie become a prince when he ascends to the throne. The news comes with hints that this decision is part of Charles's plans for a slimmed-down monarchy. Things have not been well between the Sussexes and the royal family ever since their explosive Oprah Winfrey interview in March 2021.
In the months that followed Harry and Meghan Markle's tell-all chat with Winfrey -- in which the couple alleged that the duchess was subjected to racism within the royal family, which apparently did nothing to curb bullying from British media and tabloids -- things have not been smooth.
In the aftermath of the bitter cold war that broke out between Harry and his father and brother Prince William, it has now been revealed that Charles has made it clear that the two-year-old won't become a prince when the Prince of Wales becomes king. The decision, however, isn't a new call from the Prince of Wales, as The Sun claims that this decision is what triggered the Sussexes to go after the royal family in their March interview.
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Archie has the right to become a prince as he will be the grandchild of a sovereign once Charles becomes king; but the latter is of the opinion that the public no longer wishes to pay for a growing monarchy; hence, he is determined to limit the key working members of the family. Charles, who has told several senior members about his plan, also told Harry and Meghan of his plans to change all the key legal documents to make sure Archie does not get the title that was given as a birthright.
According to the Daily Mail, a source told them: "Harry and Meghan were told Archie would never be a Prince, even when Charles became King.”
Established in Letters Patent dated November 20, 1917, the existing rules allow the titles of the prince and princess to be given to specific relatives of the monarch. The children of the sovereign, the children of the sovereign's sons, and the oldest living son of the Prince of Wales are entitled to the titles, thereby automatically allowing William's firstborn son Prince George the title, while his other two children - Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis were gifted their titles from the Queen, by issuance of a new patent in 2013.
But insiders are now revealing, "Charles has never made any secret of the fact that he wants a slimmed-down Monarchy when he becomes King. He realizes that the public don't want to pay for a huge Monarchy and, as he said, the balcony at Buckingham Palace would probably collapse.” A royal source told the outlet: “We are not going to speculate about the succession or comment on rumors coming out of America.” They also added that Charles has been arguing with brother Prince Andrew over the security of his daughters Beatrice and Eugenie in the future.
Insiders have also expressed shock that Charles would issue a new patent to strip Archie of his birth title. Sources close to Harry and Meghan also confirmed that the former senior royals expected Archie to get the title of the Prince when Charles became king. Looks like they had been aware of the not-so-favorable plans of grandfather Charles as Meghan had told Winfrey: "They were saying they didn't want him to be a Prince or a Princess."
Meghan further explained, "You know, the other piece of that convention is, there's a convention – I forget if it was George V or George VI convention – that when you're the grandchild of the monarch, so when Harry's dad becomes King, automatically Archie and our next baby would become Prince or Princess, or whatever they were going to be… But also it's not their right to take it away.”