Meghan Markle Explains to Oprah Winfrey Why Archie Is Not a Prince

During her sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan Markle opened up about why her and Prince Harry‘s son, Archie, does not have a royal title. Born on May 6, 2018, Archie was entitled to the courtesy titles the Earl of Dumbarton, though he did not receive that title, nor did he receive a prince or HRH title. He is instead known simply as Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. Although it had initially been suspected that the couple opted against a royal title for their son in an effort to give him a more “normal life,” Markle revealed that was not the case at all, but rather, Archie was denied a royal title by the royal family.

Speaking during the two-hour interview, Markle was asked by Winfrey how it was explained to her that Archie, “the great-grandson of the Queen, wasn’t going to be a prince?” Winfrey suspected that Markle and Harry “must have had some conversations” about it and must “have your own suspicions as to why they didn’t want to make Archie a prince.” Markle revealed that members of the royal family “were saying they didn’t want him to be a prince or princess,” something she said “would be different from protocol.” Markle also revealed that she was told Archie would not receive security because he’s “not going to be a prince.”

“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,” she said, adding that she would have accepted a title for Archie if it “meant he was going to be safe. And it’s not our decision to make. Even though I have a lot of clarity of what comes with the titles good and bad…that is their birthright to then make a choice about.”

Markle went on to reveal that the decision not to give Archie a title was made in tandem to “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.” The couple refrained from identifying who brought forth concerns regarding Archie’s skin tone, though Winfrey later revealed Harry confirmed it was not his grandparents, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.

Under current royal guidelines, great-grandchildren of the monarch are not princes or princesses, except for children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales, explaining why Prince William and Kate Middleton’s children are Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. The queen does, however, have the option to overrule that guideline and give her great-grandchildren royal titles. When or if Prince Charles becomes king, Archie could be entitled to the title Prince because he would be the grandchild of the King. PEOPLE also notes that Archie could also be given the secondary Sussex title before inheriting the dukedom.