Meghan Markle's Full Titles: Is She A Princess?

Since Meghan Markle married Prince Harry in 2018, there has been a wide discourse around the titles and styles she acquired at the time.

Upon her marriage, Meghan became a member of the royal family and her children with Prince Harry are also in line to inherit the throne, though she herself is not.

Though most commonly referred to by her "Duchess of Sussex" title, Meghan has three subsidiary titles through her marriage to Harry, which are lesser-known, but does one of these make Meghan a princess?

Here, Newsweek looks at Meghan's full list of styles and titles, and whether they changed from her marriage in 2018 through to the reign of her father-in-law, King Charles III.

Meghan Markle as a Member of the Royal Family

Meghan Markle married Prince Harry at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, England, in May 2018, in a royal wedding that was watched by millions around the world.

After the couple's exchange of vows and signing of the marriage register, Meghan not only assumed a number of new titles but also officially became a working member of the royal family.

Meghan and Harry's titles are not dependent on their status as "working" royals, and therefore did not change when they split from the monarchy and moved to the U.S. in 2020.

Her Royal Highness

Upon her marriage, Meghan officially gained the style of Her Royal Highness (HRH). This is a style granted by letters patent and held by specific members of the royal family and their spouses, with His Royal Highness (HRH) as well.

The use of the Royal Highness style is controlled by the King George V convention that was laid down in 1917. It also controls who in the royal family can use the title of "prince" or "princess" of the United Kingdom in their own right.

The convention includes that children and grandchildren (through the male line) of the monarch and their spouses can use the HRH style. When Meghan married Harry, his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II was on the throne. As such, Harry had his HRH style from birth, with Meghan using it from their point of marriage.

When Harry and Meghan split from the royal family, their HRH style became the only form of their address to go through a change. As the couple were no longer working members of the royal family, it was agreed with Buckingham Palace in London that they would no longer use their HRH titles, though they still legally retain them.

The Duchess of Sussex

As a marker of his marriage, Queen Elizabeth II granted her grandson, Harry, three new titles. The most senior of these was the Dukedom of Sussex.

Sussex is a county on the southern coast of England, and in line with most titles of the British aristocracy, it is tied to a geographical location. Prior to Harry, the last Duke of Sussex had been Prince Augustus, a son of King George III and uncle to Queen Victoria.

The prince married in 1831, but because his wife was not of royal birth and permission was not given by King William IV, their union was not officially recognized at court. This meant that his wife did not become the Duchess of Sussex.

When Harry married Meghan then, she became the first Duchess of Sussex. However, it is important to note that Meghan is not a duchess in her own right, but is known as one because her husband is a duke, and this applies to her other titles as well.

Royal dukedoms such as Harry's take precedence over other titles, which is why, despite holding a number of titles of nobility, Harry and Meghan are commonly referred to using their Sussex names.

Princess Henry

In the same way that Meghan became a duchess upon her marriage because her husband is a duke, so too did she legally become a princess because her husband is a prince.

Legally, Meghan is "Princess Henry" (Harry's real name) but is not known as such because her Duchess of Sussex title takes precedence.

Wives of princes who do not hold royal dukedoms or subsidiary titles are known by "Princess" followed by their husband's name. An example of this is King Charles III's cousin-by-marriage, Princess Michael of Kent, who married Prince Michael of Kent in 1978.

When Meghan married Harry, she became "Princess Henry of Wales" because, at the time, Harry was the son of the Prince of Wales, and so took that suffix.

However, when Charles III became king, Prince William became the new Prince of Wales, and by tradition Harry dropped the "of Wales" suffix, instead becoming simply "Prince Henry".

Countess of Dumbarton

As a pendant to Harry's English dukedom, Queen Elizabeth II gave him a Scottish title, which is used when the prince is visiting the country.

Harry became the Earl of Dumbarton, with Meghan becoming the Countess of Dumbarton upon their marriage.

Dumbarton is a town in western Scotland, north of the city of Glasgow.

By tradition, the couple's eldest son, Prince Archie, could have used his father's secondary title as his own. However, this was not followed and, at the time of his birth, Archie was known simply as "Master Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor."

Baroness Kilkeel

With the English and Scottish titles, Harry was also given a Northern Irish title by his grandmother, that of Baron Kilkeel.

Kilkeel is a town in southeast Northern Ireland and, since her marriage, Meghan has held the title of Baroness Kilkeel.

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.