During the must-watch interview with Oprah, the Duchess of Sussex said that her son, Archie, was denied a royal title by the palace, counteracting reports when Archie was born that his lack of a royal title was a decision the couple made. This also means that her son wasn't offered royal protection - which is why Meghan said she wanted Archie to be offered a title. In the chat with TV legend Oprah, Meghan also revealed there were 'concerns' over the colour of Archie's skin in the royal family. In the days following, however, sources have come forward to cast doubt over these claims. So what is the truth?
'They were saying they didn't want him to be a prince or princess, which would be different from protocol, and that he wasn't going to receive security,' Meghan said. 'This went on for the last few months of our pregnancy where I was going, "hold on for a second"'
'They said [he's not going to get security], because he's not going to be a prince,' she said. 'Okay, well, he needs to be safe so we're not saying don't make him a prince or princess, but if you're saying the title is what's going to affect that protection, we haven't created this monster machine around us in terms of clickbait and tabloid fodder you've allowed that to happen which means our son needs to be safe.'
It is clear, then, that Meghan wished for Archie to be a prince so that he would be given the security that she felt he desperately needed. Royal sources have since explained that his place in the line of succession did not demand it, however. The children and grandchildren of a sovereign have the automatic right to the title HRH and prince or princess, under protocols established by George V. Archie is a great-grandchild, but when Charles accedes the throne he would be eligible for titles. Before the birth of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's first son, George, the queen stepped in to make sure all of Kate and William's children could have the title prince and princess.Members of the royal family like Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice do receive security, but this is paid for my Prince Andrew privately. By this logic, the onus fell upon Harry and Meghan to cover Archie's costs.
Many tabloids are framing this as a 'gotcha' moment against Meghan, suggesting that these rules show that she is lying about the whole issue. But the interview makes it very clear that she was aware of the rules: she was asking for changes to me made, due to the fact that Archie was undoubtedly at risk. Sources told the Sunday Times in 2019 that Harry and Meghan considered Archie a 'private citizen', but in recent weeks it has become clear that we must consider who these sources are speaking for.
Meghan revealed that conversations about his title were happening at the same time as 'concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born'. Oprah asked, 'Was there concern that if he was too brown that that would be a problem?' Meghan answered, 'I wasn't able to follow up with why but if that's the assumption you're making, I think that would be a safe one.'
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