# Prince Archie of Sussex
**Prince Archie of Sussex** (Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor) is the first child of [Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex](https://www.edgepedia.org/prince-harry-duke-of-sussex), and [Meghan, Duchess of Sussex](https://www.edgepedia.org/meghan-duchess-of-sussex), and sixth in the line of succession to the British throne. He was born in London in 2019 and held no royal title at birth; he became entitled to be a prince in September 2022, when his grandfather acceded as King Charles III, and began using the style Prince of Sussex in March 2023.[1](https://www.royal.uk/prince-archie-of-sussex) • [2](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/archie-harrison-mountbattenwindsor-zara-tindall-meghan-sussex-doria-ragland-b2163063.html) • [3](https://www.the-independent.com/life-style/royal-family/harry-meghan-archie-lilibet-titles-b2297210.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor[4](https://cuhags.soc.srcf.net/gen/tng/getperson.php?personID=I922&tree=tree1) |
| Born | 2019, at 05:26, London; weighed 7lb 3oz; the Duke of Sussex was present at the birth[1](https://www.royal.uk/prince-archie-of-sussex) |
| Parents | Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, married at St George's Chapel, Windsor on 19 May 2018[5](https://www.royal.uk/sussex) |
| Title at birth | Master Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor; not a prince under King George V's 1917 Letters Patent, which confine the title to male-line grandchildren of the sovereign[6](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/meghan-markle-prince-harry-archie-mountbatten-windsor-royal-title/) |
| Current title | Prince Archie of Sussex, formally adopted in March 2023[3](https://www.the-independent.com/life-style/royal-family/harry-meghan-archie-lilibet-titles-b2297210.html) • [7](https://time.com/6265015/royal-family-tree-succession-king-charles-iii/) |
| Succession | Sixth in line to the throne[8](https://www.royal.uk/encyclopedia/succession?os=win) |
| Future title | Entitled in due course to succeed his father as Duke of Sussex[9](https://time.com/5585816/royal-baby-archie-harrison-title/) |
## Birth
Archie was born at 05:26 on Monday 6 May 2019, the first child of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who had married at St George's Chapel, Windsor a year earlier.[1](https://www.royal.uk/prince-archie-of-sussex) • [5](https://www.royal.uk/sussex) The genealogical register of Cambridge University Hellenic and Greek Adventuring Society gives his place of birth as The Portland Hospital, Great Portland Street, Marylebone, London.[4](https://cuhags.soc.srcf.net/gen/tng/getperson.php?personID=I922&tree=tree1) The birth was announced to Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, the [Prince of Wales](https://www.edgepedia.org/prince-of-wales), the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Lady Jane Fellowes, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, and Earl Spencer, and the Queen and Prince Philip met their eighth great-grandchild at [Windsor Castle](https://www.edgepedia.org/windsor-castle) on 8 May; the Duchess's mother, [Doria Ragland](https://www.edgepedia.org/doria-ragland), was present.[1](https://www.royal.uk/prince-archie-of-sussex)
The announcement departed from recent practice. [Buckingham Palace](https://www.edgepedia.org/buckingham-palace) placed an easel on the forecourt announcing the birth, displayed for about 24 hours under tradition, but the couple presented the baby at St George's Hall to a small press pool of one reporter, one photographer, three television cameramen, and the household's own photographers, rather than the larger staged appearances that had followed other royal births.[1](https://www.royal.uk/prince-archie-of-sussex) • [10](https://www.british-weekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/lrbw051119.pdf) The baby was wrapped in an ivory 'leaves and flowers' shawl from GH Hurt & Sons, the firm the royal family has used since one of its blankets wrapped the infant Prince Charles.[10](https://www.british-weekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/lrbw051119.pdf)
## Christening and early appearances
Archie was christened on 6 July 2019 by the [Archbishop of Canterbury](https://www.edgepedia.org/archbishop-of-canterbury), Justin Welby, in the Private Chapel at Windsor Castle.[11](https://www.itv.com/news/2019-07-03/duke-and-duchess-of-sussexs-son-to-be-christened-by-archbishop-of-canterbury) The ceremony was private, with no press or public access, and the godparents' names were withheld to protect their privacy, a decision criticized by some commentators; royal biographer Penny Junor called it a mistake to exclude well-wishers.[11](https://www.itv.com/news/2019-07-03/duke-and-duchess-of-sussexs-son-to-be-christened-by-archbishop-of-canterbury) He wore a lace and satin christening gown, a replica of the one made for [Queen Victoria](https://www.edgepedia.org/queen-victoria)'s eldest daughter in 1841, which had also been worn by Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.[12](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-07/meghan-markle-prince-harry-photo-after-christening-baby-archie/11285756) The baptism used the Lily Font, a gilded silver bowl used at every royal christening since 1841, with water from the River Jordan.[13](https://time.com/5616163/royal-baby-archie-christening/) Official portraits, taken by Chris Allerton in the Queen's Private Chapel at Windsor Castle, were released on the family's Sussex Royal Instagram account hours afterward.[14](https://time.com/5615945/royal-baby-archie-christening-photos/)
His first official royal appearance came on 25 September 2019, during his parents' tour of southern Africa, when the four-month-old met Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and his daughter Thandeka Tutu-Gxashe in [Cape Town](https://www.edgepedia.org/cape-town); a video posted to Instagram captioned "Arch meets Archie!" marked his video debut.[15](https://time.com/5685781/royal-baby-archie-photos-south-africa-trip/)
## The title question
Under protocol set out by King George V in 1917, the children and grandchildren of a sovereign hold the automatic right to the style HRH and the title prince or princess, but great-grandchildren of a sovereign do not.[6](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/meghan-markle-prince-harry-archie-mountbatten-windsor-royal-title/) When Archie was born in 2019 he was seventh in line to the throne and a great-grandchild of the monarch, so he was not automatically a prince; he could have used the courtesy title Earl of Dumbarton or been styled Lord Archie, but his parents chose the plain Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.[2](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/archie-harrison-mountbattenwindsor-zara-tindall-meghan-sussex-doria-ragland-b2163063.html) • [16](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/royal-family/harry-meghan-royal-oprah-archie-b1814718.html)
The question became public in March 2021, when Meghan told [Oprah Winfrey](https://www.edgepedia.org/oprah-winfrey) that rather than choosing to forgo a title, the couple had been told by "the firm" that Archie would not receive one, which "would be different from protocol"; she suggested this was because Archie was the royal family's "first member of color" and that it would have marked the first time a royal grandchild was denied the title given to the other grandchildren.[16](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/royal-family/harry-meghan-royal-oprah-archie-b1814718.html) • [17](https://apnews.com/article/1c66a39ae38521c05cb7e1f7c613b6dc) She also said she and Harry wanted Archie to be a prince so that he would have security, though a prince's status does not in itself confer taxpayer-funded police protection.[2](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/archie-harrison-mountbattenwindsor-zara-tindall-meghan-sussex-doria-ragland-b2163063.html)
## Title and position since 2022
When Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022 and Charles became King, Archie and his sister Lilibet, as the children of a son of a sovereign, became entitled under the 1917 rules to be a prince and a princess with the HRH style if they chose to use them; until or unless the King issued a new Letters Patent amending those rights, the titles stood whether or not the parents used them.[2](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/archie-harrison-mountbattenwindsor-zara-tindall-meghan-sussex-doria-ragland-b2163063.html) Charles had been reported in 2021 as intending, in line with his wish for a slimmed-down monarchy, to prevent Archie becoming a prince when he became monarch, which would have required a Letters Patent limiting Archie's right.[2](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/archie-harrison-mountbattenwindsor-zara-tindall-meghan-sussex-doria-ragland-b2163063.html) • [18](https://www.the-independent.com/life-style/royal-family/archie-title-meghan-harry-charles-king-b1854240.html) No such Letters Patent was issued.
**Use of the titles.** In March 2023 the Duke and Duchess of Sussex publicly began using the titles prince and princess for their children, announcing on 8 March that their daughter Lilibet had been christened in California as a princess; a spokesman confirmed the christening took place on 3 March at their home in [Montecito, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/montecito-california), officiated by the Archbishop of Los Angeles, the Rev John Taylor.[17](https://apnews.com/article/1c66a39ae38521c05cb7e1f7c613b6dc) • [19](https://www.the-independent.com/life-style/royal-family/archie-lilibet-prince-princess-royal-titles-b2296517.html) Buckingham Palace then updated the royal family's website, where the children had been listed as Master Archie and Miss Lilibet, to name them Prince Archie of Sussex and [Princess Lilibet of Sussex](https://www.edgepedia.org/princess-lilibet-of-sussex).[19](https://www.the-independent.com/life-style/royal-family/archie-lilibet-prince-princess-royal-titles-b2296517.html) • [3](https://www.the-independent.com/life-style/royal-family/harry-meghan-archie-lilibet-titles-b2297210.html) The couple described the titles as their children's "birthright" as grandchildren of the King.[20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAUhUV92ngM)
Archie now stands sixth in the line of succession, after the Prince of Wales, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis, and his father the [Duke of Sussex](https://www.edgepedia.org/duke-of-sussex).[8](https://www.royal.uk/encyclopedia/succession?os=win) His parents stepped back as working members of the royal family in January 2020 and live in the United States, and the couple's children do not undertake royal duties; royal historian Carolyn Harris, author of *Raising Royalty*, has described the trend in the 21st-century royal family as toward fewer members holding royal titles and serving as working royals.[5](https://www.royal.uk/sussex) • [18](https://www.the-independent.com/life-style/royal-family/archie-title-meghan-harry-charles-king-b1854240.html) In due course, as his father's first-born child, Archie is entitled to succeed Harry as Duke of Sussex.[9](https://time.com/5585816/royal-baby-archie-harrison-title/)
Archie is technically the first Prince of Sussex; the previous 19th-century Duke of Sussex, an eccentric son of King George III, had both of his marriages deemed illegal, and his son was plain Master Augustus Frederick d'Este.[2](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/archie-harrison-mountbattenwindsor-zara-tindall-meghan-sussex-doria-ragland-b2163063.html)
## References
1. [Prince Archie of Sussex, The Royal Family](https://www.royal.uk/prince-archie-of-sussex)
2. [Archie and Lilibet entitled to be a prince and princess after death of the Queen, The Independent (2022)](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/archie-harrison-mountbattenwindsor-zara-tindall-meghan-sussex-doria-ragland-b2163063.html)
3. [Harry and Meghan's children now known as Prince and Princess on royal family's website, The Independent (2023)](https://www.the-independent.com/life-style/royal-family/harry-meghan-archie-lilibet-titles-b2297210.html)
4. [H.R.H. Prince Archie Harrison (Mountbatten-Windsor), of Sussex, CUHAGS genealogical register](https://cuhags.soc.srcf.net/gen/tng/getperson.php?personID=I922&tree=tree1)
5. [The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, The Royal Family](https://www.royal.uk/sussex)
6. [Meghan says Archie's title was not royal family's "right to take away", CBS News (2021)](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/meghan-markle-prince-harry-archie-mountbatten-windsor-royal-title/)
7. [British Royal Family Tree: Everything to Know, Time](https://time.com/6265015/royal-family-tree-succession-king-charles-iii/)
8. [Succession, The Royal Family](https://www.royal.uk/encyclopedia/succession?os=win)
9. [Royal Baby Archie May Not Have a Royal Title, After All, Time (2019)](https://time.com/5585816/royal-baby-archie-harrison-title/)
10. [The British Weekly, 11 May 2019](https://www.british-weekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/lrbw051119.pdf)
11. [Duke and Duchess of Sussex's son to be christened by Archbishop of Canterbury in private ceremony, ITV News (2019)](https://www.itv.com/news/2019-07-03/duke-and-duchess-of-sussexs-son-to-be-christened-by-archbishop-of-canterbury)
12. [Meghan Markle and Prince Harry release photo of Royal baby Archie after private christening, ABC News (2019)](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-07/meghan-markle-prince-harry-photo-after-christening-baby-archie/11285756)
13. [Everything We Know So Far About Royal Baby Archie's Christening, Time (2019)](https://time.com/5616163/royal-baby-archie-christening/)
14. [Photos of Royal Baby Archie at His Christening Are Here, Time (2019)](https://time.com/5615945/royal-baby-archie-christening-photos/)
15. [Baby Archie Makes His Royal Tour De During Visit to South Africa, Time (2019)](https://time.com/5685781/royal-baby-archie-photos-south-africa-trip/)
16. [Harry and Meghan: Why is Archie not a prince and how are royal titles given?, The Independent (2021)](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/royal-family/harry-meghan-royal-oprah-archie-b1814718.html)
17. [Harry & Meghan's daughter christened, will use royal title, AP News (2023)](https://apnews.com/article/1c66a39ae38521c05cb7e1f7c613b6dc)
18. [What title will Meghan and Harry's son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor have when Prince Charles becomes king?, The Independent (2021)](https://www.the-independent.com/life-style/royal-family/archie-title-meghan-harry-charles-king-b1854240.html)
19. [Meghan and Harry's kids Archie and Lilibet given royal titles of prince and princess, The Independent (2023)](https://www.the-independent.com/life-style/royal-family/archie-lilibet-prince-princess-royal-titles-b2296517.html)
20. ["It's Like Having Your Royal Cake And Eating It" - Royal Titles For Sussex Kids, TalkTV (2023)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAUhUV92ngM)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Politics and government › Government and public administration › Royal consorts and dynastic families › Non-reigning princes and princesses › British and Irish royal relatives › Modern British royal relatives › Windsor-era royal relatives*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license