Ever since they announced they were having a little girl during their Oprah interview, we’ve been patiently awaiting the arrival of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s daughter. This past Friday, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor was born and we couldn’t be happier for the couple. Her name has already won people over and caused controversy alike with its nods to both Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Diana. And although her name may sound like that of a princess, she technically isn’t one — yet. Meghan’s baby girl will one day have the opportunity to take on the royal title of Princess Lilibet, according to an old royal rule. But it may all depend on what Harry and Meghan’s relationship with the royal family is like then.
According to an old law instilled by King George V, Lilibet and Archie aren’t technically a princess or prince at this current time. Per the 1917 patent, as recorded in The Washington Post, “The grandchildren of the sons of any such Sovereign in the direct male line (save only the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales) shall have and enjoy in all occasions the style and title enjoyed by the children of Dukes of these Our Realms.”
Under this rule, only Prince George, the eldest living son of Charles, the Prince of Wales’ eldest son Prince William, should have enjoyed the “prince” title. But Queen Elizabeth II stepped in to let all of William and Kate Middleton’s kids be called “prince” and “princess,” an honorific that, per this rule, Lilibet and Archie ought to come into as well when Charles becomes king and they are no longer merely “the grandchildren of the sons” of a Sovereign and instead simply the grandchildren of a Sovereign.
With Charles holding an ever-tighter grip on the group of senior royals, however, he may choose to intervene and nix those titles — leaving Princess Lilibet as a distant fantasy.
Before you go, click here to see the craziest conspiracy theories Meghan Markle has faced since becoming a royal.
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