At long last, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's children have finally received their upgraded titles. The two little ones will now go by Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. The news comes months after the change was supposed to take place, prompting some royal insiders to question the motives behind the decision.
The title change is now reflected on the official line of succession.
Things have become official official now that Archie and Lilibet have both had their names updated on the royal family's website that dictates the official line of succession. The Prince and Princess of Sussex are listed just under their father, with Archie holding No. 6 and Lilibet taking up the seventh spot.
These changes came into play after the September 8 death of Queen Elizabeth.
Upon the Queen's 2022 death, all of King Charles' grandchildren's titles got an upgrade.
Although Prince William and Princess Kate's (who was also granted a new royal title) three children went from being the Princes and Princess of Cambridge to the Princes and Princess of Wales, Harry and Meghan's children had to wait a bit for their title adjustments.
Royal insiders have grown suspicious over the timing of the changes.
There are rumblings that Charles was waiting to make the move until after he got a chance to see what Harry would say about the family — both in his Netflix special and in his memoir, Spare — much to the displeasure of the California-based couple.
"The Duke and Duchess made it clear they wanted to use the titles for their children, as convention dictates," an anonymous source told Page Six. "After the Queen died, updates were made to the royal website and despite their birthright, Archie and Lilibet were not given their titles."
The source points out that everyone else got their upgraded titles before Harry's children.
It would make sense that Charles was waiting to see if his son and daughter-in-law bashed him and the rest of the family before making the change, because palace officials went ahead and announced the changes for William and Kate and their three children almost immediately after the Queen's death.
"If the titles had just been updated, along with everyone else, there would be no story," the source continued.
Nobody knows what really prompted the changes.
Sources went on to theorize about the sudden change. "It begs the question, why now," one person commented. "This all happened at the end of last year, the timing is strange."
The palace likely has plenty of reasons for getting its ducks in a row, especially now that we have confirmation Harry and Meghan were invited to the coronation, but we can't help but hope this is a sign that things have cooled down between the royals and friendlier days are ahead.
Check out our Meghan Markle page for all the latest news about Meghan, Prince Harry, and their growing family.
