Harry and Megan’s children’s titles under threat from US legal challenge

The Foreign Emoluments Clause show that family titles may not be valid in the US.

US People magazine announced to the world that Harry and Meghan’s daughter, Lilibet, would be taking up the title of princess after her christening on March 3.

Persons born into senior positions of the royal family are automatically given titles. In 1917, King George V decreed that “the grandchildren of any such sovereign in the direct male line (save only the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales) shall have and enjoy in all occasions the style and title enjoyed by the children of dukes of these our realms.”

This meant after the Queen died in September 2022 Archie and Lilibet were entitled to use the titles.

When Archie was christened in 2019, he was not entitled to a royal title but this was contested by Markle as she claimed to Oprah Winfrey in 2021 that a title was denied because of racism.

The Palace immediately denied such allegations and insisted that not affixing a royal title to Archie was due to protocol.

After fleeing to the celebrity city of California for privacy it appears the family have chosen to use the titles, but are they legally valid in the USA?

The US Foreign Emoluments Clause was created to prevent corruption and limit foreign influence on federal officers, and this shows that royal titles are invalid in the family’s place of residency.