ROYALLY CONFUSED
Meghan Markle ‘would have known’ why Archie was not made a prince royal experts say – branding Oprah claims ‘misleading’
MEGHAN Markle "would have known" why Archie was not made a prince and to suggest it was because of his skin colour was "misleading", royal experts have said.
The Duchess of Sussex discussed the reason Archie was not made a prince when he was born during her bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.
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She claimed there were conversations surrounding his title alongside concerns about how dark his skin might be.
Meghan said: "In those months when I was pregnant, we had in tandem the conversations of him not being given security or a title, and also concerns about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.
"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 that he wasn't going to receive security."
But under current Royal rules - laid down by King George V in 1917 - Archie would only have ever been made a prince or receive a HRH title when Prince Charles becomes king.
Speaking on Royalty TV's The Royal Beat, correspondent Katie Nicholl said the couple would have been well aware of the rules and branded their claims "misleading".
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She said: “Meghan would have known [that this was for an established constitutional reason] and Harry would definitely have known.
"I think it was disingenuous to throw all this together and suggest that Archie wasn’t a prince because of the colour of his skin. I think it was misleading.”
Royal biographer and broadcaster Hugo Vickers added that he didn't understand Meghan's comments on the need to provide security for baby Archie.
He told the programme: “I don’t know how many one-year-olds need security because they are normally covered by their parents and Prince Harry had plenty of security at that time.”
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The rules laid down by King George V mean only Prince William and Kate’s eldest son Prince George was originally entitled to be a prince.
The Queen stepped in ahead of George's birth in 2013 to issue a Letters Patent to ensure George's siblings Charlotte and Louis would have fitting titles as children of the future king.
And Archie will be entitled to be an HRH or a prince - but not until his grandfather Charles takes the throne.
The Times has since reported that the Sussexes fear Prince Charles will want to change the convention when he becomes King - following claims he would like to slim down the monarchy.
It comes after Meghan said the only reason she was concerned about her son receiving a title was because of the security she believed it would come with.
Meghan, 39, told Oprah: "But the idea of our son not being safe, and also the idea of the first member of colour in this family not being titled in the same way that other grandchildren would be ...
"You know, the other piece of that conversation is, there’s a convention — I forget if it was George V or George VI convention — that when you’re the grandchild of the monarch, so when Harry’s dad becomes king, automatically Archie and our next baby would become prince or princess, or whatever they were going to be."
She said it had not been their decision to not give Archie a prince title.
However, sources told The Times that Archie's title had nothing to do with security - saying it was a matter for Scotland Yard and the Home Secretary.
When Archie was born in 2019, it was reported that Meghan and Harry chose not to use a title for their son.
Instead, he is simply known as Master Archie after his parents decided not to give him one of the Duke of Sussex's lesser titles, the Earl of Dumbarton.
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This signalled the couple wanted their child to be a “private citizen”.
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The Queen has said the claims raised regarding concerns over the colour of Archie's skin would be investigated and "addressed privately".
A statement from the Palace said: "The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. Whilst some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately."
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Meghan Markle tells Oprah in discussion about Prince title, 'They wanted to change the convention for Archie'
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