Harry & Meghan Thought Archie Would Be ‘Bullied’ With a Royal Title—Here’s the Surprising Name He Almost Got

It turns out that Harry and Meghan’s son was actually offered a royal title—he could have been known as Archie, Earl of Dumbarton. But according to a new report, the Sussexes rejected the title because they worried their son might be “bullied” over it.

As a source explained to 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.” According to the British newspaper’s report on Wednesday, June 23, both Meghan, 39, and Harry, 36, took issue with the offer. “It wasn’t just Meghan who pointed out the potential pitfalls, it also bothered Harry,” another insider added. Understandably, the couple decided to skip the title altogether, opting to name their son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor when he was born in May 2019.

News of this rejected title comes just months after the couple’s bombshell interview with Oprah on CBS, in which they discussed why Archie isn’t a prince and suggested his lack of titles had to do with comments made about his race by a member of the royal family. “They didn’t want him to be a prince or a princess, which would be different from protocol,” Meghan said, at the time. “It was really hard…This went on for the last few months of our pregnancy where I’m going, ‘Hold on a second. How does that work? If he’s not gonna be a prince, he needs to be safe.’”

Meghan went on to reveal that she and Harry were given “no explanation” as to why Archie wouldn’t receive a royal title, but that she wanted him to receive one “if it meant he was going to be safe” and receive security. Instead, the Duchess of Sussex hinted that the decision to drop his security and titles may have had to do with his race.

“All around this same time, we had in tandem the conversation of he won’t be given security, he’s not going to be given a title, and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born,” Meghan said. While she and Harry declined to name the person in question, they later confirmed that it was neither the Queen nor Prince Philip.