Would Meghan Markle Become A Princess If She Weds Prince Harry?

Now that Meghan Markle has joined Prince Harry at a wedding in Jamaica, many are wondering if the two will themselves be wed one day and if they do, would Meghan Markle become a princess? If Prince Harry and Meghan Markle did decide to get married, at the moment Meghan would not be able to call herself Princess Meghan unless the royal rules were changed. This is because to use the title of princess you must first have been born into the royal family, according to the Sunday Express.

However, if Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were married, she would still have the name princess in her title. As Prince Harry is known as His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales, or HRH Prince Henry of Wales, she would assume the feminine version of his particular title and be known as HRH Princess Henry of Wales, rather than just Princess Meghan as she would do if she had been born into the royal family, as someone like Princess Charlotte was.

Much of Meghan Markle’s possible future title depends upon Prince Harry’s title and whether it changes or not. For instance, if Prince Harry ends up becoming a duke when he gets married, Meghan Markle would become a duchess. This is probable, especially as Prince William was crowned a Duke when he married Kate Middleton.

There are many people, including the historian Marlene Koenig, who think it is quite likely that once Prince Harry is married he will be granted the title of Duke of Sussex.

“Meghan would be HRH the Duchess of Sussex. Her rank would be a princess by marriage of the United Kingdom, Great Britain and Northern Ireland.”

This title for Meghan Markle upon her marriage to Prince Harry would be similar to how Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, goes by the title of HRH Princess William of Wales, rather than Princess Kate or Princess Catherine.

What would happen then if Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were married and had children? Regardless of who Prince Harry marries in the future, if Queen Elizabeth was still living they would be given the title of either Lady or Lord and would assume the last name of Mountbatten-Windsor.

Just a bunch of photos of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attending a wedding together https://t.co/EG0D2lu7ib pic.twitter.com/trdeLad6S1

— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) March 4, 2017

This is due to the fact that one has to be either the child or the grandchild of the ruling king or queen to use the title of prince or princess. So Charles, as Queen Elizabeth’s son, goes by the title of Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth’s grandchildren Henry (Harry) and William both go by the title of prince.

Queen Elizabeth decided in 1960 that any offspring who were not princesses or princes should take the last name of Mountbatten-Windsor, which is Prince Phillip’s surname. The Queen did change things a bit from this, however, when she issued the decree that any children of Prince William and Kate Middleton would all be princes or princesses.

Things could change markedly if Prince Charles assumes the role of king, on the other hand. In this case, the whole line of succession would be different, and Harry would go from HRH Prince Henry of Wales to HRH The Prince Henry. This means that if Prince Harry were to marry Meghan Markle, Meghan would become HRH The Princess Henry. It would also mean that the couple’s future children would be princes or princesses, rather than Lady or Lord Mountbatten-Windsor.

Since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle seem to be in such a happy relationship together and have just attended a wedding in Jamaica, do you think the pair will ever tie the knot and get married themselves?

[Featured Image by Chris Jackson/Getty Images]