Titles & Styles

What he is called, what changed in 2020, and what the 1917 Letters Patent say about his children — the documented mechanics, not the commentary.

The dukedom (2018)

On his wedding day, 19 May 2018, Elizabeth II granted Harry the dukedom of Sussex, with the subsidiary titles Earl of Dumbarton and Baron Kilkeel. He has been the Duke of Sussex since — the dukedom was not affected by the 2020 agreement.

The HRH style (2020)

Under the terms announced by Buckingham Palace on 18 January 2020, Harry and Meghan would no longer use their HRH styles from spring 2020, would receive no public funds, and would repay the Sovereign Grant money spent on Frogmore Cottage. Key distinctions, all matters of record:

• The HRH style was dropped, not removed: it was an agreement not to use it, not a formal deprivation.
• His princely title was unaffected: he remains Prince Henry of Wales by birth. Claims that he is “no longer a prince” are false (see reception.md).
• The dukedom was unaffected.
• His honorary military appointments were relinquished (see military-service.md).

The children: the 1917 Letters Patent

Under George V’s Letters Patent of 1917 (London Gazette), the monarch’s great-grandchildren are not princes or princesses — only the monarch’s children, the monarch’s sons’ children, and the eldest son of the Prince of Wales’s eldest son. On Charles III’s accession (8 September 2022), Archie and Lilibet became the monarch’s grandchildren and therefore automatically became Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. The titles were first used publicly in March 2023. Claims that the titles were “denied” misdescribe the mechanism; claims of an active plan to change it for Archie specifically are the couple’s account (see oprah-interview.md).

Sussex Royal and commercial use

The couple’s former brand Sussex Royal (and its Instagram handle) was retired in 2020 under the agreement with the Palace, which barred commercial use of the word “Royal.” Their 2024 Sussex.com launch drew press commentary about the use of royal titles in a commercial context — reported, not adjudicated here.

Source notes

• The 1917 Letters Patent: London Gazette, 1917. The 2020 terms: Buckingham Palace statement, 18 January 2020. The children’s titles: the 1917 instrument applied on accession; first public use March 2023 (reported by the BBC and others).