Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s son, Archie, will automatically become a prince when his grandfather Prince Charles is king of England.
While Harry, 35, and the former Suits star, 39, chose not to give their son — whose full name is Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor — a title when he was born and have moved away from the U.K. and settled in California, their 15-month-old is seventh in line to the British throne and will move up the line of succession when Harry’s father ascends after Queen Elizabeth II.
While Archie will become a prince, the Express reported on Sunday, August 23, that it will be up to him to decide whether he wants to use the title and also be called His Royal Highness when he reaches the age of 18.
It could potentially cause an awkward situation in his own family as Prince Harry and Meghan remained the Duke and Duchess of Sussex when they stepped down as senior members of the royal family at the end of March but are no longer using the His and Her Royal Highness part of their titles.
When Charles becomes king, either after his mother, the queen, steps down or dies, the line of succession will be Prince William and his children — Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis — followed by Harry and then Archie.
As sixth in line, Archie will be subject to rules according to the 2013 Succession of the Crown Act and will be required to ask the monarch for permission to marry (either Charles or William will likely be on the throne when Archie becomes old enough to wed).
That regulation also applies to George, Charlotte and Louis. “Should the children of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge wish to marry, they will be required to seek the sovereign’s permission,” royal expert Iain MacMarthanne told the Express.
That condition could change, though, if one of William and Duchess Kate‘s three kids gets married and has a child before Archie finds The One, as their children would bump Harry and Archie further down the line. Archie and his dad would also move further down the line of succession if Kate and William had a fourth child.
But for now, such concerns are far from the Sussex family’s thoughts as they settle into their newly purchased home in Montecito, California, away from the prying eyes of royal courtiers.
An insider told Us Weekly in March that Harry “wants to shield his son from the negativity and tension he would’ve been exposed to back in England. Harry knows what it’s like to grow up in the spotlight, and he wants to give Archie the most normal upbringing possible.”
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