Here's what Meghan Markle reportedly said about Archie's potential royal title

She wasn't pleased, apparently.

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She wasn't pleased, apparently.

Archie Mountbatten-Windsor could have been known as the Earl of Dumbarton, but his parents reportedly weren't huge fans of the idea.

A source previously told The Telegraph: "They didn’t like the idea of Archie being called the Earl of Dumbarton because it began with the word 'dumb' [and] they were worried about how that might look."

While some royal fans have claimed that it is an understandable concern on the Sussexes part due to the constant scrutiny they faced from the media during their time as royals, biographer Tom Bower has revealed new details about what happened when Meghan was informed of Archie's potential title, including what he believes she said.

"Just after the birth, Thomas Woodcock, the Garter at Arms, called to discuss Archie’s title," Bower writes in his bombshell biography Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the war between the Windsors.

"Her son, explained Woodcock, would automatically inherit the title Lord Dumbarton, since Harry, on marrying Meghan, was made Earl of Dumbarton. Meghan had also automatically become the Countess of Dumbarton. 'Hell no,' exclaimed Meghan. 'No son of mine is going to be called Dumb.'"

Meghan also apparently preferred Archie to be known by his name, rather than by a title.

"With Harry’s agreement, the Palace also disclosed that the Sussexes had decided that Archie should not be a prince," Bower writes.

"The couple, said Sara Latham [a publicist for the Sussexes at the time], did not want to be bound by convention or history. Meghan wanted her son to be plain 'Mister Archie' and not bear the title of a royal. They wanted to protect Archie’s privacy. The Sussexes knew that, under British law, Archie would automatically become a prince after the Queen died unless Charles changed the rules."

The automatic title of Prince for Archie when Charles accedes to the throne stems from the same rule that made Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Princesses, according to i News.

Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips aren't a Princess and Prince because they're the offspring of a female descendant of the Queen (Princess Anne), while Prince Edward's children aren't a Prince and Princess because their parents decided against it.

Iris Goldsztajn
Iris Goldsztajn is a celebrity and royal news writer for Marie Claire.
As a London-based freelance journalist, she writes about wellness, relationships, pop culture, beauty and more for the likes of InStyle, Women's Health, Bustle, Stylist and Red. Aside from her quasi-personal investment in celebs' comings and goings, Iris is especially interested in debunking diet culture and destigmatising mental health struggles.
Previously, she was the associate editor for Her Campus, where she oversaw the style and beauty news sections, as well as producing gift guides, personal essays and celebrity interviews. There, she worked remotely from Los Angeles, after returning from a three-month stint as an editorial intern for Cosmopolitan.com in New York.
As an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles, she interned at goop and C California Style and served as Her Campus' national style and LGBTQ+ editor. Iris was born and raised in France by a French father and an English mother. Her Spotify Wrapped is riddled with country music and One Direction, and she can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.