Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Baby Won't Be A Prince Or Princess

A new royal baby is on the way! Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are expecting their first child together. Kensington Palace announced the happy news on Twitter this morning (Oct. 15), revealing the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will welcome their little bundle of joy sometime in the spring of 2019. 

This news is certainly exciting, but there's actually a lot of surprising things most people don't know about what happens when a new royal baby is born. For example, Harry and Meghan won't be the legal guardians of their own children. They also won't have the same last name as their child, either. Their kids won't share their dad's royal title, so, the new royal baby won't be given the title prince or a princess when it's born. 

Despite being the child of a prince, the Letters Patent issued by King George V in 1917 restricts the passing on of that particular royal title. The decree states:

The grandchildren of the sons of any such Sovereign in the direct male line (save only the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales) shall have and enjoy in all occasions the style and title enjoyed by the children of Dukes of these Our Realms.

So, what does this mean in layperson's terms? Well, it's complicated. Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis are Queen Elizabeth's only great-grandchildren that are entitled to His/Her Royal Highness titles. This is because their father, Prince William, is second in line to the throne. So, even though Prince Harry was given this title as the son of the Queen's heir, his children will be quite far removed from the line of succession that they don't need to be given the same titles. 

So, what will Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's kids be called? It's still unclear. As the law currently stands, Prince Harry's oldest male heir would inherit the title "Duke of Sussex," however, a daughter would not inherit the title "Duchess of Sussex." The Queen has recently made some changes to make these laws more inclusive for female members of the royal family. For example, the Succession to the Crown Act of 2013 declared that birth order determines the next king or queen of the United Kingdom, regardless of gender. So, Princess Charlotte remained fourth in line to the throne after her younger brother, Prince Louis, was born in April.

It's like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's children will be known as "Lord" or "Lady" instead of Prince or Princess. Prince Edward, the Queen's youngest child, decided to give his children the Lord and Lady titles instead of the same title he received upon birth. It was a "clear personal wish ... appropriate to the likely future circumstances of their children." Since they would not have tremendous royal responsibilities, they did not need such serious royal titles. 

Of course, should Prince Charles ascend the throne before the new royal baby is born, Prince Harry's children would then be entitled to the royal titles of Prince and Princess as the grandchildren of the ruling sovereign. Royal rules really are complicated, huh? We'll just have to wait until spring 2019 to find out what title's Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's children will be given. 

Photo: Getty


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