Here’s the deal: Meghan became royal by marriage when she married Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex.
Her status is that of a Princess of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Because she was not born royal, she was not entitled to be “Princess Meghan”. The late Diana, Princess of Wales, was commonly called “Princess Diana,” but she was not entitled to this either.
The same goes for The Princess of Wales (including when she was “just” the Duchess of Cambridge), the Duchess of Edinburgh, the Duchess of Kent and the Duchess of Gloucester.
The 1917 Letters Patent limits the title of Prince or Princess to the children of the sovereign, the grandchildren of the sovereign in the male line, and the eldest son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales. In 2012, this was expanded to include all the children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales, ensuring that both Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis were born Prince and Princess.
Does this make any of these women any less of a Princess? No. This was confirmed by Buckingham Palace when Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon married the Duke of York (future King George VI). They released this statement: “In accordance with the settled general rule that a wife takes the status of her husband Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon on her marriage has become Her Royal Highness the Duchess of York with the status of a Princess.”1
When Marie Christine von Reibnitz married Prince Michael of Kent in 1978, she became Princess Michael of Kent – sharing her husband’s status and taking on the feminine form.
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