Baby Archie’s official royal title: What Harry and Meghan decided on
When Meghan Markle and Prince Harry announced their new baby’s name, there was one thing that was noticeably absent – a title.
WATCH: Harry and Meghan introduce their son to the world.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's first child, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, was born on Monday, May 6 at 5.26am.
He made his photographic debut on Wednesday, nestled in his father’s arms as the proud parents posed with their newborn baby.
The couple then announced his name on their Instagram account - after he had met his great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, for the first time - and it is noticeably minus a title.
“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are pleased to announce they have named their first born child: Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor,” they posted.
While there are courtesy titles the couple could give their son, such as the Earl of Dumbarton, they have chosen not to do so for now, according to palace sources, further demonstrating they’d like Archie to have as normal an upbringing as possible.
Harry and Meghan were given the title of Duke and Duchess of Sussex on their wedding day, and it is traditional for the eldest son of a duke to eventually inherit his father’s title.
Meaning that in years to come, Archie could be given a secondary Sussex title, before inheriting the dukedom.
Their decision not to give Archie a royal title is akin to Princess Anne's decision to decline the queen's offer of courtesy titles for her children, Zara and Peter Phillips.
Zara, who is Harry's cousin, is grateful for her mother's decision to bring up her children out of the royal limelight.
“I’m very lucky that both my parents decided to not use the title and we grew up and did all the things that gave us the opportunity to do,” Anne’s daughter, Zara Tindall, said in 2015.
Archie is still only days old, and his parents are smitten with their baby boy.
“He’s just been the dream so it’s been a special couple of days," Meghan declared at Wednesday's photocall.
“It’s magic, it’s pretty amazing. I have the two best guys in the world so I’m really happy.”
As her husband held their son, Meghan added: “He has the sweetest temperament, he’s really calm.”
As they both laughed, Harry said: “I don’t know who he gets that from.”
Meghan added: “He’s just been the dream so it’s been a special couple of days.”
