Master Archie may be only four days old, but he's already the most popular baby on the planet (well, before baby Kimye had his say, at least)…
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, whose first child was born May 6, officially put the kibosh on giving their little Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor a courtesy title when the royal family's official website listed the name with only "master" in front of it.
And while we feel sorta weird not calling the little guy "prince" like his royal cousins, there's still a chance the Sussexes' son could be Prince Archie one day. According to royal protocol, the grandchildren of the monarchy are automatically given the courtesy title of prince or princess. So, when Prince Charles becomes king one day, the title of His Royal Highness Prince Archie could be applied.
However, Markle and Prince Harry could decide to forgo the courtesy title again in order to give Archie the opportunity to have as normal a life as possible. According to Majesty magazine's managing editor, Joe Little, it all depends on the duke and duchess.
“As the grandchildren of the Sovereign they have the right to be upgraded to the style of His or Her Royal Highness. But that begs a question of whether Harry and Meghan want that," Little told People.
“I don’t think that Baby Sussex will be a Royal Highness at any time in his or her life,” Little said. “And why do they need to be? With the immediate core of working royals this child or children are not going to be working members of the Royal Family, so why lumber them with the HRH?"
Um, because it's amazing? But we totally catch your drift…and we think Megs and Harry will go with the more modern approach and opt out of the titles, too.
The title of Duke of Sussex could be conferred to Archie one day wayyy down the road, however, since "substantiative titles" like Sussex and Cambridge are often passed down through the royal family.
But, for now, it's just…Archie. (And we love the little guy all the same.)
