Names and faces
■ Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, announced that their daughter had been christened in a private ceremony in California, publicly calling her a princess and revealing that they will use royal titles for their children. Princess Lilibet Diana, who turns 2 in June, was baptized last Friday by the archbishop of Los Angeles, the Rev John Taylor, Harry and Meghan said in a statement Wednesday. Lilibet’s title and that of her brother, Archie, who will be 4 in May, will be updated on the Buckingham Palace website later. The announcement marked the first time that the children’s titles had been used in public. Titles are conferred in line with a decree issued by King George V in 1917 that limits the titles of prince and princess to the male-line grandchildren of the sovereign. As long as Queen Elizabeth II was alive, Harry and his older brother, Prince William, were the sovereign’s grandchildren. Harry and William’s children, as great-grandchildren, didn’t receive the titles automatically. But Elizabeth had the power to amend the rules, and in 2012 she decreed that the children of Prince William and his wife, Catherine, would be princes and princesses. This decree didn’t apply to Harry and Meghan. However, the situation changed when King Charles III ascended to the throne upon the death of his mother in September. William and Harry are the king’s sons, meaning their offspring are now royal grandchildren and so entitled to be known as prince and princess. Nonetheless, they have remained a plain “master” and “miss” on the Buckingham Palace website for the past six months.
■ Federal agents confiscated a loaded gun found in the hand luggage of actor and comedian Mike Epps, who was trying to board a flight at Indianapolis International Airport, airport police said. Transportation Security Administration officers discovered the Smith & Wesson .38-caliber pistol in his backpack Sunday, airport police said. Epps, 52, told agents at the TSA checkpoint that he had forgotten he had the weapon in his bag. Agents seized the gun but did not arrest Epps. The TSA forwarded the case to the Marion County prosecutor’s office to consider charges. Epps, an Indianapolis native, has starred in movies including “The House Next Door: Meet the Blacks 2,” “Next Friday” and “Friday After Next.” He appears in the forthcoming Marvel movie “Madame Web” starring Dakota Johnson, and the Apple TV+ series “Lady in the Lake” starring Natalie Portman.