Princess Anne, the second child of Queen Elizabeth, hinted that she is supportive of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's decision to give up their royal roles. The Princess Royal recently did a rare interview, where she opened up about her life as a member of the British royal family.
Speaking to Vanity Fair, Princess Anne said that she understands the downside of having royal titles. At that time of the interview Prince Harry and Meghan just announced that they are giving up their His/Her Royal Highness (HRH) titles as they step back from their royal duties.
Princess Anne said that many people will "argue that there are downsides to having titles." For her part, she believed that she made the right choice when she passed on royal titles for her children, Peter Phillips and Zara Phillips Tindall.
Peter and Zara were given ordinary childhoods away from royal traditions. Princess Anne said that it was easier for her kids to grow up without the HRH tag. She believes she made the right decision.
When Princess Anne married Mark Phillips, a commoner, in the 1970s, Queen Elizabeth offered him a royal title but he didn't take it. When the couple had children, the Queen once again offered royal titles to their second generation but Princess Anne and Mark also turned those down because they wanted normal lives for their kids.
As a grown up, Zara has been vocal about her parents' decision not to accept the royal titles. She said in an interview that she and Peter were lucky as they grew up doing things that were more adventurous than Prince William, the second in line to the throne, was allowed to do.
Having a royal title has been challenging for Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, these days as he has decided to scale back from the royal spotlight with his wife, Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex. It took months of discussions with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles to reach this point, where Prince Harry and Meghan have been granted the freedom to do whatever they want.
Prince Harry and Meghan also didn't want their son, Archie Harrison, to grow up with a royal title. Hence, his birth certificate officially says that he is Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.
The Duke of Sussex and his son, however, are still the sixth and seventh in line to the British throne. This hasn't changed despite Prince Harry deciding to go on a new direction and not be the spare to Prince William, the future king.
