If you didn’t notice, I’m completely obsessed with all of the “setting the record straight” stories in Finding Freedom. Maybe it’s because of my encyclopedic memory for completely random gossip, but it feels so good to have solid confirmations and denials on so many of the tabloid stories which were coming out for years about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The sections of FF about Archie’s birth are particularly illuminating, because there was so much nastiness and saltiness in the coverage at the time. Something I’ve always been curious about was the process of naming Archie and the decision to not give him any kind of title at birth. Knowing what we know now, I suspect the viper courtiers would have had a sh-t fit if Harry had insisted on giving Archie a royal title. I also suspect that by the time Meghan gave birth, Meghan and Harry were completely worn out by the smear campaign and they were already loosely planning their post-royal future, and they wanted Archie’s name and lack of title to reflect that. From FF:

Harry and Meghan already had a name ready to go when Archie was born, because the couple had known all along that they were having a boy. According to a source, they settled on their son’s name some time during the final week of her pregnancy. The couple wanted something traditional, a name that was powerful even without a title in front of it. Archie, meaning strength and bravery, fit the bill. “They thought about Archibald for all of one second,” a friend of the couple said with a laugh. “He was always going to be little Archie.” (Mountbatten-Windsor is the surname used by all male descendants of the Queen and Prince Philip. Royals with titles don’t typically use surnames.)

Harry and Meghan—who were going to register Archie for dual citizenship—decided to forgo a title for their son, because they wanted him to be a private citizen until he was at an age where he could decide which path he would like to take. A source said the pair both worried about the day Prince Charles becomes king and Harry’s children could inherit the titles of prince or princess. They shared their concerns with Charles, who said he would consider when he became king issuing a new letters patent, a legal instrument in the form of a written order issued by a reigning monarch, that would change this style. “To not have a senior role in the royal family but have a title,” a senior aide close to the couple said at the time, “is just a burden.”

[From Finding Freedom: Harry, Meghan, and the Making of a Modern Royal Family]

This is fascinating! The repeated insistence that Harry and Meghan both wanted to forgo a title for Archie is consistent – people said that at the time, that it was Harry and Meghan’s decision and the Queen and Charles backed them up. Still, I imagine there was some relief among the courtiers that they didn’t have to wage that war. As for choosing the name Archie ahead of time… well, okay. I still think they could have chosen better, but maybe “Archie” suits him. And it’s fascinating that when Charles becomes king, he might issue a letters patent about his grandchildrens’ titles.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red, Backgrid.