Official nod for Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet to take up titles on royal website
THE Royal family’s official website has been updated to name the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s children as fifth and sixth in line to the throne after the couple confirmed that they will be styled Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
The children, aged three and one, are referred to online as Prince Archie of Sussex and Princess Lilibet of Sussex. Until yesterday, the website referred to them as Master Archie Mountbattenwindsor and Miss Lilibet Mountbattenwindsor.
A spokesman for the Sussexes said: “The children’s titles have been a birthright since their grandfather became monarch. This matter has been settled for some time, in alignment with Buckingham Palace.”
The news was announced yesterday in a statement that also revealed their daughter had been christened last week in California. A spokesman for the Sussexes confirmed that Princess Lilibet Diana was “christened on Friday, March 3” by the Rt Rev John H Taylor, the Bishop of Los Angeles.
The subject of the Sussex children’s titles has caused much confusion since the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the development ended months of speculation about whether their parents would use the titles, amid suggestions that the King was considering removing them.
However, the palace was informed last year that the couple would use the titles and it accepted their decision.
Sources close to the Sussexes had suggested they were frustrated that the Royal household had failed to recognise Archie and Lilibet’s elevated status on its website immediately, not least because the Prince and Princess of Wales’s titles, and those of their children, were swiftly changed.
They were informed that the Royal family’s website would be updated at the beginning of this month after it emerged that they had been asked to vacate Frogmore Cottage, their Windsor home, and the Duke of York had been offered the keys to it. The recognition may be interpreted as an olive branch from the King because the couple were not told in advance that Prince Andrew would move into the property.
The Palace has suggested there was a delay because it had been waiting for the Sussexes to make a decision about the titles. Shortly after the death of the Queen, the King’s spokesman said that the Royal family’s website would be updated “as and when we get information”, adding: “Clearly updating live on a website doesn’t quite work.”
The King would have to issue a letters patent to remove the titles, as in 1917 George V conferred the title of Prince or Princess on the grandchildren of the sovereign.