Prince Archie’s title Harry and Meghan ‘refused to use’ after it 'bothered them'
While the likes of Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis can expect to one day hold senior titles, such as the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal and perhaps the Duke of Cambridge or the Duke of York, many of the late Queen's other great-grandchildren will never gain an official style.
This was the case for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's young children until the couple made the announcement in March 2023 that they did not wish to deny Archie and Lilibet of their "birth right" - and moved to change the way the youngsters were styled.
From that point on Archie became Prince Archie of Sussex - but there is another title he would have been allowed to use before Prince Harry and Meghan turned it down.
At the time of their wedding, the late Queen made Prince Harry and Meghan the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the Earl and Countess of Dumbarton and the Baron and Baroness Kilkeel.
In line with royal tradition, Archie was entitled to be styled as the Earl of Dumbarton as it is the subsidiary style of his father’s official title. But according to a report in The Telegraph, the new parents didn’t want their son to be known by a title that contained the word ‘dumb’.
The report says: "They didn’t like the idea of Archie being called the Earl of Dumbarton because it began with the word ‘dumb’ [and] they were worried about how that might look." A second source added that it wasn't just Meghan's concern, but that it "also bothered Harry."
Prince Archie was born at the Portland Hospital in London on 6 May, 2019 and made his first public appearance in his parents' arms in front of a select number of photographers in St George's Hall, Windsor Castle.
The young royal was originally styled as Master Archie Harrison Mountbatten Windsor - but this all changed when Harry and Meghan announced that Archie would be known as Prince Archie going forward as they were keen not to deny him and younger sister, Princess Lilibet, of their "birth right".
Both children are entitled to use princely titles as they are the grandchildren of The King, owing to the rules set out in the 1917 Letters Patent by King George V.
While he has spent very little time in the UK, Prince Archie did get any early taste of what royal duty would feel like as he joined his parents on a tour of South Africa when he was less than a year old and was pictured meeting Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
He spent his first Christmas with his parents in Canada and remained there while his parents returned to the UK and just days later announced they were stepping back from their senior royal roles.
The family soon made a home in Montecito, California, and expanded again following the birth of Princess Lilibet Diana on 4 June, 2021.
