King Charles will read Prince Harry's memoir before deciding on Lillibet and Archie's new titles, a new book claims

(Image credit: Chris Jackson/Getty Images/Future)

published 24 September 2022

King Charles III is reportedly waiting for the release of Prince Harry's tell-all memoir before deciding whether his children, Archie and Lilibet will receive their rightly inherited titles.

Upon the death of the Queen on the 8th of September 2022, The Sussex children inherited the right to be a HRH, but whether they receive the title is yet to be seen
According to a new book, King Charles III is reportedly waiting to read Prince Harry's upcoming memoir before granting any titles to his grandchildren
The royal news follows reports that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have returned to US to reunite with Archie and Lilibet after the Queen's funeral

King Charles III is reportedly waiting for his son Prince Harry’s memoir to be released before he decides whether his and Meghan Markle's children will inherit new titles, a new book has claimed.

After the death of the Queen, when Charles became King Charles III, his grandchildren, Archie and Lilibet, fell into the 1917 Letters Patent. The 1917 Letters Patent is a ruling that means all grandchildren of the monarch can inherit His/Her Royal Highness, more commonly styles as HRH, titles.

Despite this historically upheld ruling, a new book by Vanity Fair’s royal correspondent, Katie Nicholl, The New Royals, which is available for preorder on Amazon ahead of it's release on the 4th of October 2022, has claimed that King Charles is waiting for the release of Harry’s memoir before deciding if his son's two young children will receive their royal titles.

In an excerpt published by Vanity Fair, Nicholl explained that, when Charles became King following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, Harry and Meghan Markle’s two children inherited the right to be a HRH, with three-year-old Archie to be a prince and one-year-old Lilibet to be a princess.

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Prince Harry and King Charles — (Image credit: Chris Jackson/Getty Image)

In the excerpt, Nicholl pointed out that Archie and Lilibet’s royal titles have not been updated on the royal family’s website, unlike the titles of Prince Charles, now the Prince of Wales, Kate Middleton, now Princess Catherine of Wales, and their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, now styled as Prince George of Wales, Princess Charlotte of Wales and Prince Louis of Wales.

Archie and Lilibet have retained the titles of Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor and Miss Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor.

While the act may be seen as a snub, Nicholl reported that the King is “reluctant” to make any title changes in general, not just title changes for Harry and Meghan's children.

She explained in the excerpt, “We know titles matter to Charles, and he reportedly wants to limit them to the top tier of royals. He is also reportedly reluctant for his brother Prince Edward to take the title Duke of Edinburgh, even though it was their late father’s wish.”

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As reported by The Independent, according to a source that spoke to Nicholl, King Charles is waiting to see what Harry writes about the royal family in his highly-anticipated upcoming memoir, which is expected to be published in 2023, before granting his son's children any official royal titles.

Nicholl writes, “Would Charles go as far as barring Archie and Lilibet from becoming a prince and a princess now that the Sussexes are no longer working royals?According to a source close to the King, ‘it depends a lot on what happens in the coming months, particularly with Harry’s book and their TV show'."

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While it is up to the King to grant official titles to the children, Meghan and Harry will be the people to decide if their children will use these titles and be styled as HRH.

Even without Charles's 'permission', Archie and Lilibet can still be styled with the titles as is their right as the monarch's grandchildren laid out in the Letters Patent. However, royal correspondent Victoria Arbiter told The Independent that it is unknown if the grandchildren’s titles will become official or not.

She explained, “[Archie and Lilibet] automatically become prince and princess, simply because that’s how the rules are laid out.

“It remains to be seen whether Harry and Meghan will want it and the pressure that comes with that. Charles could change the Letters Patent, and, if he does change the Letters Patent, it’s not a slight to Harry and Meghan.”

She added, “Public perception is everything. At the end of the day, Charles wants to do whatever is favourable with the public.”

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Charlie Elizabeth Culverhouse is a news writer for Goodtoknow, specialising in family content. She began her freelance journalism career after graduating from Nottingham Trent University with an MA in Magazine Journalism, receiving an NCTJ diploma, and earning a First Class BA (Hons) in Journalism at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute. She has also worked with BBC Good Food and The Independent.