Prince Louis stole the hearts of the nation when he celebrated his great grandmother, the late Queen’s, Platinum Jubilee back in 2022 – but he almost had a very different official title
The Queen was forced to step in and change the name of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s third child Prince Louis – overturning a historic rule made by King George V.
Prince William and Kate Middleton ‘s youngest son was born on April 23, 2018, and the proud new parents named him Louis Arthur Charles.
Prince William and Prince George both have the middle name in honor of Prince Charles’s mentor, Lord Louis Mountbatten, who died in an IRA bombing in 1979.
The middle name Charles is a tribute to Louis’ grandfather, the Prince of Wales. And much like his older siblings, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, Louis doesn’t have a surname and is formally known as His Royal Highness Prince Louis of Cambridge.
However, Louis’ HRH title was uncertain thanks to a longstanding rule put in place by King George V. In 1917, he set out guidance on which royals were allowed to have titles. It was decided then that only those closest to the top of the line of succession would be automatically granted titles.
King George V decided that only the sovereign’s children would automatically become a Prince or Princess, as well as any grandchildren born through the male line. But great-grandchildren were not included. But Her Majesty, The Queen overturned this for all of William and Kate’s children – and f she hadn’t made that change, Louis would have been known as Master Louis Cambridge or Master Louis Windsor.
But further rows were sparked when the rule change didn’t include Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s children, which the Duchess of Sussex revealed in her infamous interview with Oprah Winfrey.
During the 2021 interview, Meghan told the US talk show host: “They were saying they didn’t want him to be a Prince or Princess, which would be different from protocol, and that he wasn’t going to receive security. This went on for the last few months of our pregnancy where I was going, hold on for a second. They said [he’s not going to get security], because he’s not going to be a Prince.
“Okay, well, he needs to be safe so we’re not saying don’t make him a Prince or Princess, but if you’re saying the title is what’s going to affect that protection, we haven’t created this monster machine around us in terms of clickbait and tabloid fodder you’ve allowed that to happen which means our son needs to be safe.” But experts have denied Meghan’s claims that it was “different to protocol”.
After the rule change made by King George V in 1917 regarding royal titles, only those closest to the top of the line of succession would be automatically granted titles. This meant that only the sovereign’s children and any grandchildren born through the male line would become a Prince or Princess, while great-grandchildren were not included.
However, Queen Elizabeth II decided to overturn this rule specifically for all of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s children. If this change hadn’t happened, Prince Louis would have been known as either Master Louis Cambridge or Master Louis Windsor.
Interestingly, this rule change did not extend to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s children, as revealed by the Duchess of Sussex in her interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021. Meghan expressed concerns about the lack of security for their son due to not receiving a Prince title.
Despite Meghan’s claims, experts have denied that the handling of royal titles was different to protocol. The decision to grant titles is a traditional aspect of the monarchy, with specific rules and guidelines in place.
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Source: Los Angeles Times1
