Sussexes refer to their children Archie and Lilibet by Prince and Princess titles

The Duke and Duchess of Sussexes’ children, Archie and Lilibet, will use their Prince and Princess titles, it has emerged, after months of speculation that the King would remove them.

The couple referred to their daughter as Princess Lilibet in a statement revealing that she had been christened last week in California.

The King, the Queen Consort, and the Prince and Princess of Wales were all said to have been invited but opted not to attend.

The Sussexes’ spokesman said: "I can confirm that Princess Lilibet Diana was christened on Friday, March 3."

The christening was performed by Rt. Rev. John Harvey Taylor, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.

The subject of Archie and Lilibet’s titles has caused much confusion since the death of Queen Elizabeth II last September amid claims that the King was undecided about whether they should use them.

The Royal family’s website, which lists them as sixth and seventh in the line of succession, still refers to them as Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor and Miss Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor.

The Sussexes made the decision to use the titles last year, it is understood. However, they were only informed that the Royal family’s website would be updated at the beginning of this month.

They were told after it emerged they had been asked to vacate Frogmore Cottage, their Windsor home, and that the Duke of York had been offered the keys.

It will be interpreted by many as an olive branch from the King to the couple who had not been told in advance that Prince Andrew had been asked to move in.

Sources close to the Sussexes had suggested they were frustrated that Buckingham Palace had failed to immediately recognise Archie and Lilibet’s elevated status on its website, not least as the Prince and Princess of Wales’s titles, and those of their children, were swiftly changed.

However, as children of His Majesty’s son, they automatically became Prince and Princess on his accession.

In other circumstances, they would also have been entitled to be styled His Royal Highness and Her Royal Highness but are prevented from doing so because their own father’s HRH title is in abeyance.

The HRH titles of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie were not affected when the Duke of York’s title was put into abeyance because they have had them since birth, palace sources said.

The Sussexes are said to be keen to not deny their children their birthright, but to allow them the chance to decide for themselves when older whether to drop or keep using the titles.

They have been in recent communication with Buckingham Palace on the issue and the Royal family’s website is expected to be updated accordingly in due course.

The palace suggested that the delay was simply down to the fact that it had been waiting for the Sussexes to make a decision about the titles.

Shortly after the Queen’s death, the King’s spokesman insisted that the Royal family’s website would be updated “as and when we get information”, adding: “Clearly updating love on a website doesn’t quite work.”

The King would need to issue Letters Patent to remove Archie and Lilibet’s titles.

Their use is in line with letters patent issued by George V in 1917, which conferred the title of Prince or Princess on male-line grandchildren of the sovereign.

The issue of the Sussexes’ children’s titles was first raised in March 2021, when Meghan suggested in her interview with Oprah Winfrey that Archie had not been given the title of prince because of his mixed heritage.

She insisted that she did not care for titles, but said that by depriving Archie of one, his safety had been put at risk, believing that as a result he was not entitled to protection.

She said there had been “no explanation” for the decision and suggested that her son’s mixed heritage might have been a contributing factor.

However, when Archie was born seventh in line to the throne in May 2019, he was not automatically eligible for the title.

Meanwhile, People magazine revealed that Lilibet’s christening took place at the family’s home in Montecito and included a 10-person gospel choir that sang Oh Happy Day and This Little Light of Mine, a song that was played at the Sussex’s wedding.

Among the 20 to 30 guests were Doria Ragland, the Duchess’s mother; Tyler Perry, Lilibet’s godfather; and an unnamed godmother.

Perry, a music producer, gave the Sussexes the use of his Los Angeles home when they first moved from Canada to California, despite having never met the couple at that point.

He revealed on the couple’s Netflix documentary that he agreed to be godfather only if he would not be required to travel to the UK for a christening.