Mervyn Gossling

Who Gets What? During the interview, the duchess told Winfrey that, while she was pregnant, conversations took place that involved Archie not receiving a title or security, in tandem with questions over what color his skin might be. Winfrey’s shocked reaction was shared by many people who do not understand the rules of royal titles. Who gets a title and who doesn’t ultimately comes down to the monarch of the day, but it is not as simple as deciding who is and is not in favor. The present governing rules were first laid down by King George V in 1917. In the Letter Patent, King George wrote: “[T]he children of any Sovereign of these Realms and the children of the sons of any such Sovereign (as per the Letters Patent of 1864) and the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales (a modification of the Letters Patent of 1898) shall have and at all times hold and enjoy the style, title or attribute of Royal Highness with their titular dignity of Prince or Princess prefixed to their respective Christian names or with their other titles of honour.” These rules made clear that the title of Prince would extend to only the grandchildren of the reigning monarch. At the time, it was considered highly unlikely that kings or queens would live to see their great-grandchildren, and, as such, the stated rules tidied up the details of the regulation. However, the British royal family is, despite what TV would have us believe, an institution that changes with the times. In 2012, Queen Elizabeth II, realizing that people naturally live longer, amended the 1917 Letters Patent to grant title to the children of the Prince of Wales’ eldest children: namely Prince William’s children. It did not extend to the offspring of the second-born child. For the duchess to suggest that Archie would not receive the title of “prince” because of his skin color, or for any reason other than the rules set in place before she ever met Harry, is disingenuous at best; at worst, it is feigning ignorance of well-established rules to paint the reigning monarch as a racist. PLEASE GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT,