Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Will Receive New Royal Titles After Their May Wedding

Just as Prince William and Kate Middleton became the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge after their marriage, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will receive new royal titles from Queen Elizabeth after tying the knot on May 19. There are only a handful of dukedoms for the Queen to choose from, with some thought to have been ruled out due to past notorieties, and until now, it’s been widely assumed that Harry and Meghan will become the Duke and Duchess of Sussex: it’s an available peerage that doesn’t have any negative connotations.

However, it’s now rumored that the Queen might revive the extinct dukedom of Connaught, which is named after Connacht in Ireland. This dukedom was created by Queen Victoria in 1874 for her third son, Arthur, and has been out of use since 1943, after the death of the second Duke. Coincidentally (or perhaps not) the first Duke also held the title of Earl of Sussex.

“It is not beyond the realms of possibility that almost as a nod and a courtesy to Ireland and the new-found ‘détente’ that has developed between both countries, that the English foreign office would advise the Queen that this is a good time to resurrect the title,” royal commentator Noel Cunningham told the Irish Independent.

The title, however, would certainly be a more contentious choice than that of Sussex, due to the original area of the dukedom being outside the UK and thus outside of the royals’ sphere.

“I would suggest that one of the highlights of the Queen’s reign was her visit to Ireland and there is no doubt it would be seen symbolically as a very important continuation of the close relations that now exist, but we must remember that the Republic of Ireland has existed [for decades] and it just simply isn’t conceivable that it could happen without being preceded by substantial debate in Ireland,” explained royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams in the Irish Independent. We can’t wait to learn Meghan and Harry’s titles next month!

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This post was written by Katie Rosseinsky. It originally appeared on our sister site, Grazia Daily.