For the first time, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have publicly used the royal titles, Prince and Princess for their children, Archie, three, and Lilibet, one.
It comes after the couple’s daughter – Lili for short – was christened in Los Angeles on Friday.
While the youngsters are still pretty new to the royal family, both have never been referred to as a Prince or a Princess, despite automatically inheriting the title the minute King Charles III acceded to the throne back in September 2022.
Instead, they’ve remained as “master” and “miss” on the Buckingham Palace website.
Which begs the question, why have Harry and Meghan only decided to use the titles now almost six months later?
For some context, in 1917, King George V set out the rules that only the children and grandchildren of the sovereign had the right to the prince, princess and HRH titles.
Which meant, when Queen Elizabeth II was alive, both Archie and Lilibet did not qualify, as at the time they were the great-grandchildren of the sovereign.
As well as prince and princess, the pair are also now entitled to use the HRH introduction.
But whether they will as they get older is unclear, considering their parents Harry and Meghan no longer use them (even though they still retain them) after stepping down as working royals in 2020.
However, the palace has now confirmed that the line of succession will be updated on the website to reflect the change, after a Sussex spokesperson openly referred to Lilibet as a Princess upon her christening announcement.
Not to mention the upcoming coronation of King Charles on Saturday 6th May.
In terms of how the titles will be used, it’s understood that formal settings will be appropriate – not in everyday use.
Which means Lilibet’s christening was the first real opportunity for her to use her new Princess title since the Queen’s death last year.
Apparently, both the Duke and Duchess do not want to deny their children of their birthright, but they do want to give them the chance to decide for themselves when they get older.
So, we'll likely be waiting a long time to find out whether it’ll just be plain Archie and Lili, or something a little more formal.
And for when the young siblings can next use their fancy new titles? If they were to attend the coronation, it would probably be then (can you get any more formal than that?).
But right now, it’s still unknown as to whether Harry and Meghan will even attend, especially as it’s Archie’s birthday on the same day.
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