Will Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Daughter Get a Royal Title?

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are expecting their second child, a daughter, and like their son Archie, the soon-to-be-born baby girl will likely not receive a royal title. As the child of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Markle's children would typically be titled Lord or Lady, though as with Archie, the couple's daughter will seemingly forgo the title.

After Archie's birth in May 2019, Harry and Markle announced that their son's full name was Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, with no royal title attached. At the time, it was believed that the Sussexes had not wanted their son to have a title, but Markle alleged to Oprah Winfrey in her recent interview with Prince Harry that it was actually the royal family that did not want Archie to be titled. Markle said that while she was pregnant with Archie, "they were saying they didn't want him to be a Prince or Princess, not knowing what the gender would be — which would be different from protocol — and [said] that he wasn't going to receive security." She recalled, "This went on for the last few months of our pregnancy where I was going, hold on for a second."

Markle added that she was less concerned about a royal title and more about Archie's security. "They said [he's not going to get security] because he's not going to be a Prince," she said. "Okay, well, he needs to be safe, so we're not saying don't make him a Prince or Princess, but if you're saying the title is what's going to affect that protection, we haven't created this monster machine around us in terms of clickbait and tabloid fodder, you've allowed that to happen, which means our son needs to be safe."

In line with the decision made for Archie, Harry and Markle's daughter will likely be called Miss "First and Middle Name" Mountbatten-Windsor. However, Archie and his sister could receive titles after Prince Charles ascends the throne, Town & Country shares. The Mountbatten-Windsor siblings would then become the grandchildren of the reigning monarch and become eligible for HRH titles, thanks to a Letters Patent issued in 1917 by King George V. It's possible that Prince Charles could issue a new Letters Patent limiting the HRH title to the heir to the throne and their immediate family, and Markle alleged during her interview with Winfrey that her son may not be given the title of Prince when his grandfather ascends the throne.

"Even with that convention [that automatically makes all grandchildren of the monarch a prince or princess], they said, 'I want to change the convention for Archie,'" she said. "Well, why?" The Duchess of Sussex added that the matter was of concern because "the first member of color in this family isn't being titled in the same way as other grandchildren would be." When Harry and Markle's daughter is born, she will be eighth in line to the throne, following Prince Charles, Prince William, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis, Harry, and Archie.