Prince Archie’s profile has reappeared on the Buckingham Palace website, after the page briefly went down on Saturday afternoon.
Harry and Meghan’s three-year-old son, whose page was updated earlier this month to reflect his princely title and his place in line to the throne, stopped working yesterday.
When users clicked on the page, it returned an error message which said: ‘The requested page could not be found’.
Today the page has returned, listing the royal, who will celebrate his fourth birthday on the same day as the King’s coronation on May 6, with his official title, Prince Archie of Sussex.
The photo on the page appears to be slightly different from the original photo used, with Meghan smiling as she looks at her newborn son, taken when the couple announced him to the world in 2019. Originally, the photo used pictured Meghan smiling at Prince Harry, in a shot taken on the same occasion.
Prince Archie of Sussex’s profile page on the Buckingham Palace is live once again after it briefly vanished yesterday. The picture used is very slightly different to the original photo on the page, with Meghan smiling as she looks down at her son
Archie, who is sixth in line to the throne, had his page updated alongside his one-year-old sister, Princess Lilibet Diana, earlier this month following a statement from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in which they referred to their children’s official titles as their ‘birthright’.
The line of succession was also updated to reflect Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet’s positions as sixth and seventh in line to the throne. Despite Archie’s page vanishing yesterday, the updated line of succession remained live. Femail has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment.
Following a statement from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex confirming Princess Lilibet Diana’s christening at an intimate ceremony in Montecito, California, where the family now lives, the changes to the children’s profiles were made.
As news of one-year-old Princess Lilibet’s christening broke, the Sussexes’ statement referred to their children with their royal monikers for the first time.
The Buckingham Palace website showed a ‘page not found’ error message when searching for Prince Archie’s profile, just weeks after the three-year-old’s informatio was updated to reflect his princely title
Original page: On March 9, the Buckingham Palace website was updated to reflect Prince Archie of Sussex’s new title following a statement from the Duke and Duchess confirming Princess Lilibet’s christening and stating that their childrens’ princely titles were their ‘birthright’
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle released a statement following news of Princess Lilibet Diana’s christening that the princely titles were the ‘birthright’ of their children. Pictured: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex in 2019 in Cape Town with Prince Archie of Sussex
A spokesman for the couple said at the time: ‘The children’s titles have been a birthright since their grandfather became monarch. This matter has been settled for some time in alignment with Buckingham Palace.’
After the statement was released, the Palace confirmed the titles and the line of succession would be updated ‘in due course’ with the amendments being made the next day.
Sources close to the Sussexes had suggested they were frustrated that Buckingham Palace failed to immediately recognise Archie and Lilibet’s titles after the Queen’s death in September 2022.
The Prince and Princess of Wales, and their three children, had their titles swiftly changed when Charles acceded to the throne in September.
But Archie and Lili’s were not changed until around 24 hours after the baptism announcement earlier this month.
Until the change, the Sussexes’ children had been listed as plain ‘master’ and ‘miss’ Mountbatten-Windsor on the site.
It is understood that despite the Sussexes’ repeated attacks on the institution of the monarchy and members of the Royal Family, there has been correspondence on the issue between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and royal aides.
A source told the Daily Mirror: ‘The appropriate conversations took place ahead of Lilibet’s christening.’
While it is understood the title will be used in formal settings, it will not be in everyday conversational use by the couple.
So she will likely still be known as ‘Lilibet’ in most scenarios.
Harry and Meghan are understood to be keen to not deny their children their birthright but will allow them the chance to decide for themselves when they are older whether they want to drop or keep using the titles.
It will be up to Lilibet whether she wants to describe herself as a princess.
Rules set out by King George V in 1917 mean Archie and Lili, as the children of a son of a sovereign, are automatically a prince and a princess – but there were doubts until yesterday whether the Sussexes would use it – and even whether Charles would block it after Megxit.
Previously, at the time of the late Queen’s death and the King’s accession last year, a spokesman for the King pledged to update Archie and Lilibet’s names on the site ‘as and when we get information’.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk