Was Prince Harry and Meghan Markle planning to leave the royal family all along? According to one royal expert, the clue was there right from their son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, who was born last May 2019.
Last week, Prince Harry and Meghan announced that they would like to step back from their roles as senior royals. They also said, via a well-prepared website, that they want to raise Archie in both London and North America so that the boy can have a normal life.
While the announcement sent shockwaves, especially among royalists, royal expert Joe Little told Daily Express that Prince Harry and Meghan might have been planning to quit as royals for a while. Their first clue was choosing to give their son a private citizen's name.
Little said that he used to wonder why Prince Harry and Meghan refused to style their son with a royal title after Archie was born. The Queen could have made her great-grandchild the Earl of Dumbarton or Archie's name could be styled as HRH (His Royal Highness).
Little surmised that Archie's birth name might have been part of a "wider masterplan" for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's transition. However, Daily Mail stated that the title of HRH is limited. It can only be given up to the monarch's grandchildren, not great-grandchildren.
The Queen's other great-grandchildren, Mia and Lena, the daughters of Zara Phillip Tindall, do not have stylized royal names. Her Majesty, however made an exception for Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, her great-grandchildren from Prince William and Kate Middleton.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, however, said that they want to raise Archie as a normal private citizen. They would like their first-born child to experience life outside the restrictions of being a royal.
Meanwhile, the Prince Harry and Meghan are working out the change in their royal roles with Queen Elizabeth's support. For now, the Sussex couple will remain as royals and keep their HRH titles. However, the Queen has agreed that they can divide their time between Canada and London.
The Sussex pair also want to be financially independent. As senior working royals, Prince Harry and Meghan were not allowed to earn a living. Now that they have asked to be released from the Sovereign Grant, Prince Harry and Meghan will be free to choose how they can have a private income.
