King Charles has firmly denied allegations that he interfered in passport applications for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, amid a growing transatlantic controversy.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, now based in California, reportedly launched a campaign to secure new passports for their children, aiming to give Archie and Lilibet the freedom to choose in the future whether they want to embrace royal duties or lead private lives.
According to a friend of the couple speaking to The Guardian, the push was motivated by a long-term vision:
“When they grow older, they can decide for themselves whether they want to become working royals or stay out of public life.”
However, tensions escalated when the Sussexes blamed King Charles for delays and complications in the passport process, claiming the monarch was deliberately slow-walking approvals.
Buckingham Palace swiftly issued a scathing rebuttal, dismissing the accusations.
“King Charles, battling cancer and governing an entire monarchy, has better and more important matters to handle than meddling in passport applications,” the Palace stated unequivocally.
According to The Daily Mail, King Charles is said to find the idea “incredulous and bemusing, to say the least,” questioning how Harry and Meghan could truly believe their children would ever grow into official royal roles following the couple’s highly public exit from the monarchy in 2020.
A palace source bluntly stated that, from Charles’s perspective, Archie and Lilibet’s future is “far more aligned with Hollywood than Windsor,” especially given the Sussexes' media ventures, which have often painted the monarchy in a negative light for global audiences.
Prince William’s reported reaction was even sharper. A source close to the Prince of Wales told The Daily Beast’s Tom Sykes:
“William obviously isn’t going to hire Archie and Lilibet. This is just trolling on the part of Harry and Meghan.”
Royal commentator Richard Eden echoed those sentiments in The Daily Mail, noting that William has long been clear about his intentions to streamline the monarchy.
When he eventually ascends the throne, Eden claims, Archie and Lilibet’s HRH titles may well be among the first casualties.
“From what I am told, the removal of Archie and Lilibet’s HRHs could be part of a wider ‘slimming down’ of the Monarchy when William becomes King,” Eden reported.
