Birth of Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor: May 6, 2019

[Betsypaige]

Can I just say how much I love that family photo? Seeing Harry and Meghan beaming over their little boy ...and the Queen and Prince Philip radiating sheer joy ...is just beautiful. I wish Charles could have been there - I can’t wait to see him with his new grandson.

I’m getting used to Archie - and I love him to bits already

 

[tihkon2]

Is master a child version of mister?

Yes. It is.

 

[sophie25]

He is still heir apparent to the Dukedom of Sussex

I don't think he will ever be titled. I think the Dukedom will revert back to the Crown on Harry's death. I also think that giving him no title at all is a bit drastic. Even the children of all the Queen's HRH cousins are Lords and Ladies and I'm sure he could have still lived his own life with that sort of title.

 

[Nico]

I think Mbruno asked why the boy isn't styled as a child of a Duke (that he is) - and we don't know the answer to that question. Probably some kind of decision was made and the child won't be styled like that.

I think the lack of style underlines very much the contradictions of the Sussexes, or let's say the impossible equation to resolve : living a private life while still performing royal duties.
You just can't cherry pick what's better in one life (the outrageous amount of privileges) and what's better in the other (the privacy of a "normal" life).
More headaches to come i'm afraid ...

 

[Pranter]

No I don't think so either..but by fact of his birth he is the son, grandson, and great grandson of princes whether he holds the title of "Prince" or not.

Sigh....there are sooo many beautiful English Royal names out there, and the poor child will already be vulnerable with "Dumbarton" in his title.

But it's done.

But there will be no Dumbarton title...he will simply be Master (later Mister) Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.



LaRae

 

[wyevale]

The name sounds like the son of a 'hipster' north London hedge fund manager...

 

[Pranter]

That's a very interesting observation! Because on one hand, that's the exact way that Prince Anne chose for her children - no titles at all, but she has never accepted any title for herself and her husband.

I guess the point of accepting the Dukedom would be so that Meghan wouldn't be called Princess Henry... Or Princess Harry. I mean, I'm a Brit and used to that, but even for me it sounds bad.

What? Meghan is Princess Henry ..and she's also the Duchess of Sussex and whatever other female version of the various titles Harry has.



LaRae

 

[JuliannaVictoria]

It seems the announcement from Royal Reporters is that Archie will not use the subsidiary title AT THIS TIME. This to means that in the future, depending on the situation, title may be used. Just as HM bestowed new title onto Edward, the same can be done for Archie.

 

[wyevale]

Why did Ms Markle accept the title of a Royal Duchess if she is so averse to titles..???

 

[Andr19]

Archie, ooooohhhhhhkay.
Well, if only they chose to live private life.
But those who cannot cope, be realistic about this childs chances in future with all this racism in british nobility, what if he turned out „coloured“, who would marry him.... the decision towards this woman means to do it from A to Z.
Hopefully times are getting better but at the moment, sorry, no��

 

[Marchesina]

I think the lack of style underlines very much the contradictions of the Sussexes, or let's say the impossible equation to resolve : living a private life while still performing royal duties.
You just can't sherry pick what's better in one life (the outrageous amount of privileges) and what's better in the other (the privacy of a "normal" life).
More headaches to come i'm afraid ...

Precisely. But thankfully there is still time and ways to revert the situation, should polemics arise. When Charles becomes King they can always say the boy will take his dad's subsidiary title.

 

[Fijiro]

BTW, just a question. It seems that Meghan and Harry want their son to be a private citizen, so that means that we won't get to see the pictures of his christening? Or his 1st birthday pictures?

I think so. It will probably be like the Tindalls and the Philipps - they will have no obligation to share pictures.

I would love to see pictures of him though.

 

[loonytick]

I'm kind of getting the vibe here that Harrison seems like an unusual name to some folks. Is that accurate? The reaction is surprising to me. Where I am, it's not one of those names that you run into everywhere but it's certainly within the realm of normal. I think of it as quite traditional. I personally tend to like it more as a middle name than a first name, but I've certainly known my share of men and boys who go by Harrison.

Archie is a harder one for me. I just think it sounds ugly (as does Archibald, so that's no great improvement) and I generally don't think it's kind of parents to name their child a nickname. Use it, sure, but leave them some more options in their actual name to be as formal or casual as they choose in various situations.

I know several people whose given name is a nickname but who use the longer, more formal version in the workplace to encourage being treated more seriously...for instance, I know a very petite, baby-faced Julie who has found she is treated with more respect when she is called Julia...but it's a hassle since it's not their legal name and people are confused when they realize the more formal name is, essentially, used as a nickname.

 

[Curryong]

It's Harry's wish, obviously, that his son will not be known as the Earl of Dumbarton. However, it is still Harry's secondary title and if Archie wants to use that Earldom when he's an adult I'm sure his father will be OK with it. And I'm sure that he can still inherit the Dukedom of Sussex after his father's death, if that is what he wants.

People sometimes don't like to use titles and Harry is obviously of that persuasion. But it doesn't necessarily mean that his son will think the same way as an adult.

 

[4Pam]

I love the name! Congratulations!

 

[alvinking]

Why did Ms Markle accept the title of a Royal Duchess if she is so averse to titles..???

.

Honest question?

Why everything that has to do with this couple is always Meghan, this Meghan that

It is a couple, this was THEIR decisions for the birth announcement of THEIR child, THEIR decisions as far as his name is concerned, etc
HARRY and MEGHAN

 

[Fijiro]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nico
I think the lack of style underlines very much the contradictions of the Sussexes, or let's say the impossible equation to resolve : living a private life while still performing royal duties.
You just can't sherry pick what's better in one life (the outrageous amount of privileges) and what's better in the other (the privacy of a "normal" life).
More headaches to come i'm afraid ...

Precisely. But thankfully there is still time and ways to revert the situation, should polemics arise. When Charles becomes King they can always say the boy will take his dad's subsidiary title.

I think it will be like Princess Anne. She does royal duties, but her children do not. She is royal and her children are not.

 

[Fem]

What? Meghan is Princess Henry ..and she's also the Duchess of Sussex and whatever other female version of the various titles Harry has.



LaRae

Yes, of course she is. But if Harry wasn't given any title - like Prince Anne - and stayed Prince Henry of Wales, Meghan would be known as Princess Henry of Wales, as there would be no other way to talk about her and I wonder if they wanted to avoid that.

But it's off topic, so it's better if we move this discussion somewhere else.

 

[JuliannaVictoria]

.

Honest question?

Why everything that has to do with this couple is always Meghan, this Meghan that

It is a couple, the was THEIR decisions the for birth announcement of THEIR child, THEIR decisions as far as his name is concerned, etc
HARRY and MEGHAN

And all of the announcements said that choose not to use a title at THIS TIME, which means in the future it's an option. Right now, this is a baby with no royal duties, and we should thank our lucky stars for the few times per year that we will get to see this child until he's an adult.

 

[Curryong]

Robert Jobson Twitter 'While there are obviously courtesy titles that could be used by their son the Sussexes have chosen not to use them AT THiS TIME'

https://mobile.twitter.com/theroyaleditor?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author

 

[Osipi]

It's Harry's wish, obviously, that his son will not be known as the Earl of Dumbarton. However, it is still Harry's secondary title and if Archie wants to use that Earldom when he's an adult I'm sure his father will be OK with it. And I'm sure that he can still inherit the Dukedom of Sussex after his father's death, if that is what he wants.

People sometimes don't like to use titles and Harry is obviously of that persuasion. But it doesn't necessarily mean that his son will think the same way as an adult.

Perhaps they're taking this route with the child starting out as Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor with the intent of raising a normal child doing normal things and just being a kid without being saddled with all the trappings that come with being "royal" and allowing the child to grow and decide for himself how he wants to fashion his life as an adult.

Archie will grow up with both royal and regular cousins and get a first hand look at how their lives are, how it works. He'll learn by example of what its like to be royal and working for the "Firm" just from his parents and uncles and aunts. To me, this is giving the child a choice and the ability to follow his own personal path in life should he choose. Archie may choose to be titled and styled as an adult or he may wish to not be titled at all.

So, in short, all this tells me that Harry and Meghan have decided to raise their son and future children as individuals without putting expectations on them from birth.

The kid is lucky. ?

 

[Lady Marlboro]

I like the name Archie. It may be because one of my favorite characters in a series of novels was called Archie (was actually Archibald but I think that was only mentioned once). That Archie was an Englishman and son of an Earl who married an American.

I am guessing the bookies made a lot of money on this one because I don't think the bettors saw this coming.

 

[leene]

Harrison sounds okay but Archie??? But I am Dutch so english names sounds different to me anyway. Sounds like a name for someone in a cartoon.

 

[Jacknch]

Is master a child version of mister?

According to Wikipedia: "Master was used in England for men of some rank...of a trade guild and by any manual worker...addressing his employer (his master).
In the Elizabethan period it was used between equals...[or]... a group...mainly by urban artisans and tradespeople. It was later extended to all respectable men and was the forerunner of Mister.
By the late 19th century, etiquette dictated that men be addressed as Mister, and boys as Master."

According to the following article, Archie is currently the 11th most popular boys name in the UK and Harrison is the 28th:

https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/reports/a26971152/most-popular-baby-names-2019-uk-so-far/

 

[Lilyflo]

It looks to me like they're keeping their son's options open for him. They're not saddling him with a title, probably in the hope of giving him as normal a childhood as possible. I strongly believe Harry is the driver of this as he's so often said how much "baggage" comes with his name/title. Meghan would obviously be guided by Harry's experience & knowledge of life "in the royal goldfish bowl". The cousins (eg Zara) have also spoken about how glad they were to be title-free as it's given them some freedoms. When Archie is older, he'll be able to use his titles if he chooses to so he's not losing anything.

 

[Katymcwaity]

I think the name is fine. Its not as though he will end up on the throne so why not have something different. Plus I am certain there will be a few Archie’s at the kind of schools he’ll attend.

 

[JuliannaVictoria]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1126165552207204352

Archie won’t be known as the Earl of Dumbarton (one of Harry’s “courtesy titles”) for the time being. Just simply Archie

https://twitter.com/x/status/1126154415570870272

From @MaxFosterCNN: Meghan and Harry have elected not to use courtesy titles at this time for their son, though he will automatically become "Prince Archie Harrison" when Charles becomes King

The way everything is worded is that the option is open for once Archie is older to use the titles, but for now, he is baby Archie.

 

[Rudolph]

It's funny. Alastair Bruce and Robert Hardman, both royal commentators, said they wouldn't be surprised if the baby was called just plain 'master' and they were right.

In fact Robert Hardman said this may be the least 'royal' baby we've ever seen.

 

[alvinking]

hmm, the IT of Buckingham Palace is not on top of things.
Somebody is going to be in trouble

Son of the D&DoC instead of Sussex??????

https://twitter.com/x/status/1126172298766057477

 

[jacqui24]

Why did Ms Markle accept the title of a Royal Duchess if she is so averse to titles..???

The Duchess of Sussex is a working royal. Her son, on the other hand, is a private individual who is expected to establish his own career one day.

Again, why is it solely Meghan's decision? Did I miss a memo somewhere? Is Harry entirely irrelevant in his own family? Given what he's said in the past, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if it was his idea.

This child is the heir to the Dukedom of Sussex as the Queen did include male heir of the body when she issued Harry the Dukedom of Sussex. However, what difference does it make in the child's life if he's Master Archie or Earl of Dumbarton? He'll be Archie.

One difference I could think of is that, potentially, some in the media would have the decency of not thinking they are entitled to him if he has no official title.