Most probably the most shocking revelation to come of out Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s interview with Oprah was when the couple disclosed that a member of the British royal family questioned “how dark” their son Archie’s skin would be when he was born.
Although they refused to name the senior British royal, the Duchess of Sussex also claimed this was the reason why the family wouldn’t give Archie a HRH title.
But royal commentator Omid Scobie, who has been one of Markle’s biggest supporters, believes there’s a simpler reason Archie is not a prince.
Scobie, the couple’s biographer and co-author of ’Finding Freedom’, says Markle “may have been wrong in her interpretation of royal protocol,” 7news.com.au reported.
He explained that the title of HRH (His or Her Royal Highness) is only passed down to children and grandchildren of the monarch – not great-grandchildren.
During an except from Discovery+’s new documentary ’Harry and Meghan: Recollections May Vary’, Scobie said: “If we are only going by what Meghan said to Oprah and what the palace have said so far about the situation with Archie, perhaps one can assume that Meghan was wrong in her interpretation of it.”
In other words, Archie, who turns two on May 6, was never going to be a prince.
During their bombshell interview, Markle said: “All around this same time, we have in tandem the conversation of he (Archie) won’t be given security, he’s not going to be given a title and also concerns and conversations as how dark his skin might be when he’s born.”
For those confused by how the title works, according to the George V convention, the HRH title is only bestowed on children and grandchildren of the monarch, and the eldest grandson of the Prince of Wales – which is Prince George, the first-born son of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
As to why all of Prince William’s children have the title? Well, the queen personally stepped in to update the rule before the birth of William and Kate’s first child to be fair on all the children.
But Archie will receive a royal title once his grandfather Charles takes the throne.