According to documents from the Crown Office that were made public on Friday, William’s title change was made official on 13 February, meaning he is also now officially the Prince of Wales several months after Charles first declared the title for his son following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
The change comes because the letters patent, an open document from the monarch, which can be used to express the Sovereign’s will, “for example to confer an office or create a new peerage”, passed the Great Seal of the Realm.
So, with Charles issuing the order to officially change William’s title, does this mean that he will do the same for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s children Archie and Lilibet?
There has been much debate over Archie and Lili’s royal titles. Technically, they are a Prince and Princess because their grandfather, King Charles III, has become King.
Under protocols established by King George V in 1917, the children and grandchildren of a sovereign have the automatic right to the title HRH and prince or princess.
However, the royal website detailing the line of succession still has Archie and Lili noted as “Master” and “Miss”, despite updating William and Kate’s title to the Prince and Princess of Wales, as well as their children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, who are now listed as “of Wales”, instead of “of Cambridge”.
Last September, the King’s spokesman pledged to update Archie and Lili’s new titles “as and when we get information”.
“While the website was updated for the Waleses, clearly updating love on a website doesn’t quite work so we’ve not quite done that but clearly he does love them. We will be working through updating the website as and when we get information,” he said.
Asked whether Archie and Lili would take the titles of Prince and Princess, he added: “At the moment, we’re focused on the next 10 days and as and when we get information, we will update that website.”
As Archie and Lili have automatic titles, King Charles III would have to issue a letter patent amending Archie’s right to be a prince and Lili’s right to be a princess.
It remains to be seen whether Archie and Lili will officially start to use their titles, but Meghan has expressed her desire for the acknowledgement in the past.
During her bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021 – before Lili’s birth – she was asked if Archie being a prince was important to her, to which she replied: “If it meant he was going to be safe, then of course.”
