Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will officially be known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex following their royal wedding on Saturday. The Queen has bestowed a dukedom and new title upon the couple, now that Meghan will officially be part of the royal family. A statement from Kensington Palace read: "The Queen has today been pleased to confer a Dukedom on Prince Henry of Wales. His titles will be Duke of Sussex, Earl of Dumbarton and Baron Kilkeel.Prince Harry thus becomes His Royal Highness The Duke of Sussex, and Ms. Meghan Markle on marriage will become Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex."
It was previously suggested that the most likely contender for Harry and Meghan's new title was the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The only previous Duke of Sussex was married twice, but neither marriages were considered lawful by his father George III, meaning they were considered unlawful. It therefore stands that Meghan is the first woman to lawfully use the title, HRH The Duchess of Sussex.
Harry and Meghan's new title has been revealed!
It was always expected that the Queen would bestow a title and dukedom upon her grandson, just like she did when Prince William and Kate tied the knot in April 2011. The couple were subsequently known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. If the Queen hadn't had given Harry a peerage, he would have kept his title HRH Prince Henry of Wales, and his new wife Meghan would have been styled as HRH Princess Henry of Wales.
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The 92-year-old monarch recently gave her formal consent to Harry and Meghan's royal wedding. Under the Great Seal of the Realm, the Queen signed an elaborate notice of approval which proclaimed the consent to the union of "Our Most Dearly Beloved Grandson Prince Henry Charles Albert David of Wales, K.C.V.O., and Rachel Meghan Markle".
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The declaration of the Instrument of Consent read: "A person who (when the person marries) is one of the 6 persons next in the line of succession to the Crown must obtain the consent of Her Majesty before marrying... Now know ye that we have consented."