The Windsors’ line of succession was updated officially 48 hours after Queen Elizabeth II passed away in Scotland. Prince William and Kate’s new “Wales” titles were given to them in the line of succession, even though the investiture has not happened yet. As soon as QEII passed away, Prince Harry and Meghan’s children, Archie and Lilibet, became Prince and Princess. But those titles were not used in the line of succession. It’s giving petty, it’s giving racist. Anyway, weeks have passed since then and it’s one of the dumbest, pettiest and most racist royal stories out there: that King Charles is using Archie and Lilibet’s titles as some kind of bargaining chip. Just like the angst and tantrums about Harry’s memoir, all of the angst and tantrums about the Sussex kids’ titles are coming from Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace. The latest is a piece in the Sunday Times, in which no news is broken and it’s just more of Charles bullying his two mixed-race grandchildren.
King Charles has not decided whether to allow his two youngest grandchildren to use their new titles of prince and princess, heightening tensions with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Harry and Meghan are understood to fear the King may strip Archie and Lilibet of their titles, after his reluctance immediately to recognise their elevated status after the Queen’s death.
As children of the sovereign’s son, Archie, three, and one-year-old Lilibet, known as Lili, are automatically now a prince and princess and entitled to be styled His Royal Highness and Her Royal Highness, something Meghan previously claimed Archie would be denied because he was of mixed race.
But more than two weeks after the Queen’s death, they are still listed on the royal family’s official website as Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor and Miss Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor. Harry, 38, and Meghan, 41, are prevented from using the HRH style since stepping back from official royal life in 2020, but that does not affect their children’s titles. It is understood Harry and his father had a “brief discussion” in the days after the Queen’s death, when the King asked if it was something Harry wanted for his children.
Harry is understood to have expressed his desire to let his children decide when they are older, and to have emphasised that would only be possible if they were allowed to retain their titles now. The conversation is understood to have ended unresolved, and to have left the Sussexes dismayed.
Several days later, tensions escalated when Harry received his military uniform from Buckingham Palace for his vigil at the Queen’s coffin to discover his grandmother’s “ER” cipher had been stripped from the shoulder. The Duke of York retained the initials on his uniform at a vigil the previous evening.
William and Kate’s new titles were instantly updated on the royal family’s official website but Archie and Lilibet’s were not. A royal source said: “For [Buckingham Palace] not to make those changes suggests that something is off. Why not just change everything and do it in that moment?”
Asked about the discrepancy, a spokesman for the King said earlier: “Updating love on a website doesn’t quite work. We will be working through updating the website as and when we get information.”
Asked again several days later, the spokesman said: “The King is focused on the mourning period. It’s unlikely you’ll know other titles during that period. I’m sure at some point there will be discussions.” Last night, a senior royal source said: “That is still the status quo.”
My prediction is that Charles is so tone-deaf, he’s waiting to strip two babies of their titles specifically when Harry’s memoir comes out. As in, Harry’s memoir will be published – or it will be the eve of the book’s release – and suddenly Buckingham Palace will make a big, splashy announcement that Charles is pulling the royal titles. And if that happens, so be it. Archie and Lili are safe and protected in America, and while it’s exceptionally cruel for a grandfather to bully his young grandchildren, I genuinely hope that Meghan and Harry have already made their peace with the fact that Harry’s family is racist trash. It feels like November will be a pretty rough month for the Windsors overall – The Crown Season 5, probably Harry’s memoir, and Charles going out of his way to make an ass out of himself.
Photos courtesy of Misan Harriman/The Sussexes, SussexRoyal IG, Avalon Red.
Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, holding their son Archie, meet Archbishop Desmond Tutu at the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation in Cape Town, South Africa, September 25, 2019.,Image: 538025348, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR SEVEN DAYS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon 
MANDATORY CREDIT: Chris Allerton – copyright SussexRoyal NEWS EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO COMMERCIAL USE. NO MERCHANDISING, ADVERTISING, SOUVENIRS, MEMORABILIA or COLOURABLY SIMILAR. NOT FOR USE AFTER FRIDAY JUNE 7, 2019, WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM ROYAL COMMUNICATIONS AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE. This photograph is provided to you strictly on condition that these conditions and restrictions will apply (and that you will pass these on) to any organisation to whom you supply it. There shall be no commercial use whatsoever of the photographs (including by way of example only) any use in merchandising, advertising or any other non-news editorial use. The photograph must not be digitally enhanced, manipulated or modified in any manner or form and must include all of the individuals in the photograph when published. All other requests for use should be directed to the Buckingham Palace Press Office in writing. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are joined by her mother, Doria Ragland, as they show their new son, born Monday and named as Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, to the Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh at Windsor Castle. 
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