1. What are Archie & Lillibet's current titles?
HRH Prince Archie of Sussex
HRH Princess Lilibet of Sussex
As their parents agreed to not use their HRH, it is likely that Archie & Lilibet won't use theirs. However, they are still legally HRHs. Not using their title or style in no way forfeits it. (Or in other words, you can have a title/style and not use it).
2. What are the Letters Patent?
A Letter Patent is a type of legal document used by the monarch to grant an office, right, title, or status to a person, corporation or city. There are many different uses to Letters Patent. One use of the Letters Patent is to dictate who is entitled to the style HRH Prince or Princess. The two main letters in use today are the 1917 & 2012 Letters Patent
1917 Letter Patent - Basically just repeats what Queen Victoria did in her 1864 & 1898 Letters Patent. It grants HRH Prince/ss to all:
- Children of the Monarch
- Children of Sons of the Monarch
- Prince of Wales's Eldest Son's Eldest Son
2012 Letter Patent - This was done to reflect the change in the line of succession, as it is no longer the Prince of Wales's Eldest Son's Eldest Son who would be heir. Rather it is now the eldest child.
It grants HRH Prince/ss to all:
- Prince of Wales's Eldest Son's Children
The Letter's Patent do explicitly say "Prince of Wales," and "Eldest son's". This would need to be updated in the future to further reflect the succession change to remove male preference.
The table below show who is granted the style HRH Prince/ss under the 1917 Letter Patent (Green) & who was added by 2012 Leter Patent (Blue). White show those who are not granted HRH Prince/ss. A person listed in white can later be granted HRH Prince/ss if they fall into one of the categories later in life when the Monarch changes.
| Self | Monarch |
| Children |
Prince of Wales |
Monarch's
Son |
Monarch's
Daughter |
| Grand-children |
Prince of Wales's
Eldest Son |
Prince of Wales's Younger Son |
Prince of Wales's Daughter |
Monarch's
Son's Children |
Monarch's
Daughter's Children |
| Great-Grand-children |
Prince of Wales's
Eldest Son's
Eldest Son |
Prince of Wales's
Eldest Son's
Children |
Prince of Wales's
Younger Son'
Children |
Prince of Wales's
Daughter's
Children |
Son's grand-children |
Monarch's
Daughters's
grand-children |
3. Why weren't Archie & Lilibet Prince/ss from birth?
The 1917 Letters Patent do not grant the style HRH Prince/ss to the Prince of Wales's younger son's children. When Queen Elizabeth died and King Charles ascended the throne, Archie & Lilibet were now the Monarch's Son's Children and covered under the 1917 Letters Patent.
Archie & Lilibet automatically became HRH Prince/ss the moment Charles became King. However, it wasn't until March 2023, that their parents and the palace agreed to style the children as such.
4. Why did they need the 2012 Letter Patent?
Previously, only the Prince of Wales's Eldest Son's Eldest Son was made an HRH Prince. Under the old succession rules the eldest son is the heir. But now it is the eldest child and they needed to update the title rules to reflect that. So the 2012 Letter Patent made all of the Prince of Wales's Eldest Son's children HRH Prince/ss so that the heir would be a Prince/ss regardless of gender.
This was done in 2012, before Prince William & Princess Kate had their first child. There was no way of knowing at the time if their first child would be a boy or a girl. And the Palace wanted to be prepared for either scenario.
If they had not changed the rules:
First born is boy:
Prince George of Cambridge (Eldest Son, & Heir)
Lady Charlotte Mountbatten-Windsor (Spare)
Lord Louis Mountbatten-Windsor
First born is Girl:
Lady Georgie Mountbatten-Windsor (Heir)
Lady Charlotte Mountbatten-Windsor (Spare)
Prince Louis of Cambridge (Eldest Son)
4a. If the 2012 LP hadn't been introduced, wouldn't Louis have been ahead of Charlotte? Like Anne/Andrew/Edward? I remember reading that Princess Charlotte was the first royal girl to not be demoted by her younger brother.
The Line of Succession was changed by the 2013 Succession Act. The Succession Act is a completely different legal document and process that involved the government of all of Queen Elizabeth's Realms.
The 2012 Letters Patent were created to update the title rules to reflect the upcoming change to the line of Succession from the 2013 Succession Act. The example I showed above is what would have happened if the Succession rules changed, but the 2012 Letters Patent were never created to update the title rules.
Princess Charlotte was the first HRH to not be demoted by a younger brother. But there were others in the extended royal family who it affected before her. The rule changed affected people born after 28 October 2011. But, didn't go into effect until March 26th 2015, so, there were some people born between October 2011 & March 2015 who were originally ordered based on the old succession rules and then were reordered when the rule change came into effect.
The first person this happen to was Tane & Senna Lewis. Senna was born first in 2010, before the cut off. But as she was an only siblings at the time she wasn't displaced by anyone. Her brother was born in 2012, after the cut off date for the succession change, meaning the new rules would apply to him and he would not displace his sister. However, the new rule wouldn't go into effect until 3 years later, so from his birth until March 2015, he displaced his older sister. And on March 26th 2015, when the new rules came into affect, the line of succession for the siblings was flipped.
5. What Surname do Archie & Lilibet use?
When a surname is needed Archie & Lilibet could continue to use Mountbatten-Windsor, or they could just use their father’s territorial designation “Sussex.”
6. Is Archie the Earl of Dumbarton?
No. The Earl of Dumbarton is Prince Harry's subsidiary title. (Subsidiary meaning less important or lower title.) With nobility, the eldest son uses his father's subsidiary title. During Queen Elizabeth's Reign, Archie could have been styled as "The Earl of Dumbarton," as a courtesy title. (His father would still be the title holder.) However, Prince do not use subsidiary courtesy titles, as their style as Prince is higher.
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