Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's new titles announced

SAY goodbye to Meghan Markle.

The newest member of the royal family has been given her official title and will now be known as Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Sussex.

Prince Harry will also score a new title, becoming the Duke of Sussex.

A statement was released from Buckingham Palace on behalf of the Queen, just hours out from the wedding ceremony.

It read: “The Queen has today been pleased to confer a Dukedom on Prince Henry of Wales. His titles will be Duke of Sussex, Earl of Dumbarton and Baron Kilkeel.

“Prince Harry thus becomes His Royal Highness The Duke of Sussex, and Ms. Meghan Markle on marriage will become Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex.”

Once the ring is on, Ms Markle will become a princess of the United Kingdom, but she won’t be called Princess Meghan.

If she wishes to use the title, she will be known as Princess Henry of Wales, but will be officially and most commonly referred to as the Duchess of Sussex.

Prince Harry will continue to be called just that. His full title is His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales (Prince Harry for short), and his new dukedom will just add another option when referring to the sixth-in-line to the throne.

Prince Harry’s brother and best man, Prince William, also received another title on his wedding day.

Prince William of Wales was also conferred a dukedom by the Queen hours before his wedding, becoming Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn and Baron Carrickfergus.

That meant Ms Markle’s soon-to-be sister in law, previously known as Kate Middleton, became the Duchess of Cambridge.

Before Kate and William’s wedding, there was speculation over whether the new addition to the royal family would be given the title “Princess”, just as her husband’s mother had.

William and Harry’s father, Prince Charles, is the Prince of Wales — a title granted to the heir apparent. He also became the Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince of the Great Steward of Scotland when his mother became Queen. He was 4.

When Charles married Lady Diana Spencer, she automatically acquired the title Princess of Wales — a courtesy title held by the wife of the Prince of Wales — but she was never formally referred to as Princess Diana.

This is because due to rules governing the British crown, only those born into the royal family can use the title Prince or Princess followed by their first name.

Prince Charles’s second marriage to Camilla Parker-Bowles saw her become the Duchess of Cornwall.

She’s technically entitled to be called the Princess of Wales, though it’s believed the royal family held back from officially bestowing the title to avoid public backlash from Diana fans — and because the title had become so closely associated with the beloved late royal.

When Princes Charles eventually becomes the monarch, however, Camilla will be queen consort (wife of the king) and will likely be called Queen Camilla. Same goes when Prince William becomes king, his wife will likely be known as Queen Catherine.

However, when the monarch is female, as in the case of Queen Elizabeth II, her husband doesn’t get the title “King” as it outranks the Queen. That’s why the Queen’s husband, who became the Duke of Edinburgh when the pair wed in 1947, didn’t become king when she ascended to the throne in 1952. He was formally made a British prince by the Queen in 1957.

Back in the 1850s, Queen Victoria tried to change all this and wanted to give her husband Albert the title “king consort”, but the government refused to pass a bill allowing it. She eventually gave him the never-before-heard title Prince Consort.

So if the time ever comes for little Princess Charlotte to take the throne, her spouse (if she has one) won’t be king.

It is also understood any children born to Prince Harry and Ms Markle will have the titles lord or lady, rather than prince or princess.

That is, unless, the Queen pulls rank and allows them those titles as she did with Princess Charlotte.

Longstanding royal rules meant that only Prince William’s firstborn would be a prince, and any siblings would be lords or ladies and wouldn’t get the HRH treatment.

But when Kate fell pregnant in 2012, the Queen stepped in and changed the rules, issuing a new patent.

It stated that “all the children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales should have and enjoy the style, title and attribute of royal highness with the titular dignity of Prince or Princess prefixed to their Christian names or with such other titles of honour”.

The patent specifies children of the heir apparent’s eldest son only, giving Princess Charlotte and baby Prince Louis their rankings.

It doesn’t extend to Prince Harry’s kids, but the Queen could of course intervene again if and when the time comes.

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