Thread by @cmclymer

Haaayyyy, a quick note from your friendly neighborhood pedantic bitch:

Harry and Meghan are NOT "commoners" now. A commoner is someone who is:

a) not the monarch
b) not a bishop or above in the Church of England (Lords Spiritual)
c) not a secular peer (Lords Temporal)

(thread)

Though Harry and Meghan will no longer be HRHs (His/Her Royal Highness), they'll still keep their title of Duke and Duchess of Sussex. They are a Lord/Lady Temporal.

Interestingly, several senior members of the British Royal Family *are* still commoners because they do not have a peerage title. For example, all of William and Kate's children are prince/princesses but also commoners because a prince/princess is not a Lord/Lady Temporal.

In fact, both William and Harry were commoners right up until they married their respective spouses and had peerage titles conferred upon them by the Queen.

I know, it's both mind-blowing and confusing.

Here's some delightful sexism: while Kate and Meghan are NON-commoners by way of their peerage titles via marriage, the male spouses of women with peerage titles are still commoners. So, if there were a Duchess who married a male commoner, he would remain a commoner, not a Duke.

This is further confusing in that the children of Lords Temporal may have titles via a (living) parent but are still commoners. The oldest son of a living Lord will be addressed by their lesser title as a courtesy.

In order, the titles are Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, Baron.

SO... the Duke of Fuckall's oldest son might be the Marquess or Earl of Fuckall, which indicates them as an heir to the duchy. If further lesser titles exist, the Duke of Fuckall can assign it to his oldest grandson. Both the son and grandson are still commoners.

The younger sons and unmarried daughters (ugh, I know) of Dukes and Marquesses (and unmarried daughters of Earls) are referred to as Lords/Ladies, and all other children of peers are simply referred to as "The Honourable [name]". All commoners.

But wait, isn't primogeniture (first-born son inherits all) no longer a thing in the British Royal Family?

Only for the line of succession to the throne, not titles of peerage. :(

And so, at least until he marries a few decades from now, His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge, third-in-line to the British Throne, is the highest ranking commoner in the Commonwealth.

However, Harry (still 6th in line) and Meghan are NOT commoners.

All of this being said, I am still your Queen. Don't forget it.