Prince Archie’s profile has resurfaced on Buckingham Palace’s website after the site was briefly shut down on Saturday afternoon.
Harry and Meghan’s three-year-old son, whose page was updated earlier this month to reflect his royal title and place in the line of succession, stopped work yesterday.
When users clicked on the page, an error message was returned stating “The requested page could not be found”.
Today the site has returned, listing the King, who will celebrate his fourth birthday on the same day as the King’s coronation on May 6th, with his official title, Prince Archie of Sussex.
The photo on the page appears to be slightly different from the original photo used, which shows Meghan smiling as she looks at their newborn son, taken when the couple announced him to the world in 2019. Originally, the photo used showed Meghan smiling at Prince Harry, in a shot taken on the same occasion.
Prince Archie of Sussex’s profile page at Buckingham Palace is live again after briefly disappearing yesterday. The image used differs slightly from 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, along with his one-year-old sister, Princess Lilibet Diana, updated his page earlier this month after a statement from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex referring to their children’s official titles as their “birthright”.
The line of succession has also been updated to reflect the positions of Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet as sixth and seventh in line to the throne, respectively. Although Archie’s page disappeared yesterday, the updated successor line remained active. Femail has reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment.
The changes were made to the children’s profiles, following a statement from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who confirmed the christening of Princess Lilibet Diana at an intimate ceremony in Montecito, California, where the family now resides.
When news of the christening of year-old Princess Lilibet broke, the Sussexes’ statement referred to their children by their royal nicknames for the first time.
Buckingham Palace’s website showed a ‘page not found’ error when searching for Prince Archie’s profile, just weeks after the three-year-old’s information was updated to reflect his princely title
Original page: On March 9, Buckingham Palace’s website was updated to reflect Prince Archie of Sussex’s new title, after the Duke and Duchess issued a statement confirming Princess Lilibet’s christening and declaring that the princely titles of their children are their “birthright”.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle released a statement following the news of Princess Lilibet Diana’s christening, saying the princely titles are their children’s “birthright”. Pictured: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex in Cape Town in 2019 with Prince Archie of Sussex
A spokesman for the couple said at the time: “Child titles have been a birthright since her grandfather became monarch. This matter has been settled in accordance with Buckingham Palace for some time.’
After the statement was released, the palace confirmed the titles and the line of succession would be updated “in due course”, with the changes being made the next day.
Sources close to the Sussexes had indicated they were frustrated that Buckingham Palace did not immediately recognize Archie and Lilibet’s titles following the Queen’s death in September 2022.
The title of the Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children was quickly changed when Charles ascended the throne in September.
But Archie and Lilis were only switched around 24 hours after the christening was announced earlier this month.
Until the change, the Sussexes’ children had been listed on the website as just ‘Master’ and ‘Miss’ Mountbatten-Windsor.
It is understood that despite the Sussexes’ repeated attacks on the institution of the monarchy and members of the royal family, there have been correspondence between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and royal aides on the subject.
A source told the Daily Mirror: “The relevant talks took place before Lilibet’s christening.”
Although the title is assumed to be used in formal situations, it is not used in the couple’s day-to-day conversational usage.
Therefore, she will probably still be known as “Lilibet” in most scenarios.
It is understood that Harry and Meghan are keen not to deny their children their birthright but give them the opportunity to decide for themselves whether to drop the titles or continue using them when they are older.
Whether she wants to call herself a princess is up to Lilibet.
Rules laid down by King George V in 1917 mean that as children of a sovereign’s son, Archie and Lili are automatically a prince and princess – but there were doubts until yesterday whether the Sussexes would use it – and even if Charles it would block it after the megxit.
Earlier, at the time of the late Queen’s death and King’s accession last year, a spokesman for the King promised to update the names of Archie and Lilibet on the website “as soon as we have any information”.