Archie playing with a toy piano
Archie Harrison

Archie and Lilibet risk becoming ‘royal celebrities’ burdened with Prince Harry’s past

kmazzawi1 March 9, 2023

EXCLUSIVE: Archie Harrison and Lilibet Diana risk getting trapped in a “gilded cage” because of their royal connection.

Archie and Lilibet ‘will have’ royal titles says Fitzwilliams

The children of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are set to be seen as “royal celebrities” when they grow up, royal author Tom Quinn believes. The journalist believes Archie and Lilibet will benefit from their royal heritage and the great attraction the Firm has historically exercised on Americans. However, as a downside Meghan and Prince Harry’s son and daughter may find it difficult to step out of the shadow, their parents’ popularity and their heritage cast, Mr Quinn said.

The author of the newly-released book Gilded Youth told Express.co.uk: “I think Archie and Lilibet will benefit enormously from their royal connection, which we know always dazzles people in America, the Royal Family is always a permanent interest to America.

“But I think they will be seen as royal celebrities. And I say that meaning that they will be almost a branch of the celebrities from film and theater in America.

“And so, I think it will be very difficult for them because they may suffer from a growing sense that they are only celebrities because of birth, not because of talent. I think that that, unless Meghan and Harry are very careful and very lucky, will be a burden eventually.”

Mr Quinn argued that, much like many children of famous Hollywood stars, Archie and Lili may end up with a celebrity status thrust upon them because of who they are by birthright rather than their own actions and work.

Archie playing with a toy piano

Archie was born in May 2019 (Image: NETFLIX/HARRY & MEGHAN)

Lilibet blowing candles on her birthday cake

Lilibet was born at a Santa Barbara hospital (Image: NETFLIX/HARRY & MEGHAN)

While the children’s royal status and inherited fame may make it difficult for Archie and Lili to have ordinary jobs in the future, Mr Quinn didn’t rule out they could still “make their mark” in the career of their choice and be acknowledged for their own talent.

Mr Quinn, whose latest book analyses the upbringing royal children have received through the generations, added the children are “stuck” with their status, which traps them – as it has done with other Royal Family members in the past – in a “gilded cage”.

Speaking before it was announced that Meghan and Harry have decided to use the titles of Prince and Princess for their children, he said: “Everything is gilded, and you have a wonderful life, you’re materially rich, you can travel, you have all the finest clothes and never worry about money. But the downside is you can’t escape, it’s gilded but you can’t escape.

“Princess Margaret is the perfect example. She believed, perhaps with some justification, that she was very talented, artistically and musically.

2022 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple Of Hope Gala

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are no longer working royals (Image: GETTY)

Harry and King Charles

Harry’s children became eligible to their titles when the King acceded to the throne (Image: GETTY)

“But she always felt deep down that when people praised her singing and the various things she did, it was really only because she was the sister of the Queen, she could never escape that.”

As the granchildren of the current monarch and children of the fifth-in-line to the throne, Archie and Lili are inevitably closely linked to monarchy.

Mr Quinn noted the Sussexes’ daughter is also tied to the world of royalty through her names, as Lilibet is the childhood monicker of the late monarch and Diana is a tribute to Harry’s beloved mother.

He said: “She was named in a way that ties her to England and to the Royal Family very closely.”

The Duke And Duchess Of Sussex Visit New Zealand - Day 1

Prince Harry and Meghan relocated to the US in March 2020 (Image: GETTY)

Tom Quinn's book cover

Tom Quinn’s book is available in hardback (Image: BITEBACK)

Meghan and Harry seem keen not to deny their children’s birthright nor distance them from their heirtage, as they recently announced their decision to have them known as Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

The California-based children became eligible to be known as Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet upon the accession to the throne of King Charles in September.

And it is understood the Duke and Duchess want the youngsters to have the option of using their titles in the future, should they choose to do so.

Source: EXPRESS CO UK