Prince Harry's son with Meghan Markle, Archie Harrison, was entitled to a courtesy title upon his birth in May 2019 but the couple decided not to make him the Earl of Dumbarton.
As explained by royal expert Antonio Caprarica, not all of Queen Elizabeth's great-grandchildren could be called prince or princesses unless they are in the direct line to the throne, such as Prince William's children. But the other great-grandchildren could get courtesy titles and Archie could inherit his title from his father, Harry, who was named the Earl of Dumbarton after he married.
It's unclear why the Sussex pair didn't take Archie's official title, which was his birthright. However, Harry and Meghan did say in the interview with Oprah Winfrey that wanted Archie to get a princely title for his security and protection.
Archie is the seventh in line to the throne but he can't receive an HRH title just yet due to a 100-year-old rule signed by the Queen's grandfather, King George V. Harry and Meghan's son could be made a prince if Charles were to sign another order specific for Archie once he sits on the throne. Along with this privilege, he could receive publicly-funded security details.
The Sussex pair, however, fears that Charles will not make this move and sign the order as part of his plan to slim down the monarchy and reduce the taxpayers' burden. According to reports, Charles wants to have fewer royals entitled to the dole-outs from the public funds.
Following Harry and Meghan's revelations, the plan to slim down the monarchy has become a racism row. Meanwhile, there have been working royals who have lived their life without the benefit of security 24/7. To be clear, members of the royal family, especially those doing public engagements, regularly have security threats.
But according to Daily Mail, Princess Anne, Prince Edward and his wife, Sophie, do not get round-the-clock taxpayer-funded security protection despite doing hundreds of royal engagements in a year. To date, only the Queen, Prince Philip, Charles, Camilla, William and Kate, as well as their kids have full security. The rest of the royals, however, have privately-funded security, especially for their children.
Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, who are also titled HRH, used to have security paid by public funds. In 2011, the Queen withdrew this privilege knowing that Prince Andrew's daughters could get full-time jobs and support themselves.
Amid this ruckus, the British people, including the Taxpayers' Alliance, have criticized Harry and Meghan. They said that the decision to cut off their security was fair because the Sussex pair's threat level has downgraded when they gave up their royal work and became private citizens living in the U.S. Threats to Archie's safety and life are also non-existent.
