During Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey back in March, the couple revealed there had been conversations within the Palace that their children, Archie and Lili, would be stripped of their royal titles.
Under a law established by King George V in 1917, the children and grandchildren of the monarch have an automatic right to assume the title HRH title—His or Her Royal Highness—and the title of prince or princess. This means that when Prince Charles eventually becomes King, Archie and Lili would have the option to take on those titles.
"Even with that convention I'm talking about — while I was pregnant, they said they wanted to change the convention for Archie. Well, why?" Meghan said during the interview. The Duchess of Sussex said she wasn't given a reason why "the first member of color in this family [was] not being titled in the same way that other grandchildren would be."
This revelation seems to line up with reports from 2019 that shed light on Prince Charles' plans for his own rule, which involves a slimmed-down monarchy. The future king reportedly wanted to cut down on the number of members of the extended royal family with titles, however, it was noted at the time that Charles did want to keep titles for his sons and their families.
Two years later, royal historian Robert Lacey believes Charles will allow Archie and Lili to assume titles, should they want them, when he becomes the sovereign. "I don't think he will make the unpopular and hostile move of removing the royal status of his grandchildren," Lacey told People. Lacey also believes Charles will have a more personal issue to attend to once he's king—he wants to upgrade his wife's title from the agreed-upon Princess Consort to Queen Consort.
As for whether Archie and Lili will one day take on royal titles, that remains to be seen. Meghan and Harry will leave it up to them. "It's not our decision to make," Meghan told Oprah back in March. "Even though I have a lot of clarity of what comes with the titles good and bad ... that is their birthright to then make a choice about."