For the UK’s royal family, the past few days have been intense, no doubt.
They lost a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. They are busy planning a funeral that will be watched by millions and millions of people from across the world. They have to come to terms with things like suddenly having brand new titles and roles – the former Prince Charles is now King Charles. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are now the Prine and Princess of Wales, and their children suddenly have brand new last names.
Royal siblings Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis of Cambridge, are now to be known as Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Lous of Wales.
However, not all new titles have been confirmed even though the Royal Family website has been updated twice over the past few days to reflect the current Line of Succession.
In the time that has amounted since Charles was officially proclaimed King at St James’s Palace yesterday, a number of official titles have been confirmed online – and the list now reads as follows:
The Royal Family website now shows Prince William’s new title, The Prince of Wales and his three children’s titles have been updated accordingly.
However, following the update, many have been eager to point out that the children of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have not been changed, and remain as Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor and Miss Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor.
This is contrary to a rule set out by the late Queen’s grandfather, King George V, in Letters Patent from 1917, that states all the children of the sovereign, the male-line grandchildren and the Prince of Wales’s eldest son were allowed to hold a princely title.
This would mean that Archie and Lili – as male-line grandchildren of the sovereign – could have an HRH title. However, King Charles’ previously expressed desire to have a ‘slimmed-down monarchy’ and his ability to issue a new Letters Patent, have lead some to speculate that Prince Harry and Meghan’s children may not receive official titles.
