Prince Harry and his wife Meghan announced Wednesday that their daughter had been christened in a private ceremony in California, publicly calling her a princess and revealing for the first time that they will use royal titles for their children.

Princess Lilibet Diana, who turns two in June, was baptized on Friday by the Archbishop of Los Angeles, the Rev John Taylor, Harry and Meghan said in a statement. Lilibet鈥檚 title and that of her brother, Archie, who will be four in May, will be updated on the Buckingham Palace website later.

The announcement marked the first time that the children鈥檚 titles had been used in public.

The question of the children鈥檚 titles took center stage two years ago during Harry and Meghan鈥檚 television interview with Oprah Winfrey. Meghan, who is biracial, said that when she was pregnant with Archie 鈥渢hey鈥� 鈥� presumably the palace 鈥� 鈥渨ere saying they didn鈥檛 want him to be a prince 鈥� which would be different from protocol.鈥�

Meghan suggested that this was because Archie was the royal family鈥檚 鈥渇irst member of color鈥� and would have marked the first time a royal grandchild wasn鈥檛 given the same title as the other grandchildren.

At the time, royal experts said Meghan鈥檚 comments appeared to be based on a misunderstanding of the way royal titles are conferred.

Titles are conferred in line with a decree issued by King George V in 1917 that limits the titles of prince and princess to the male-line grandchildren of the sovereign.

As long as the late Queen Elizabeth II was alive, Harry and his older brother, Prince William, were the sovereign鈥檚 grandchildren. Harry and William鈥檚 children, as great grandchildren, didn鈥檛 receive the titles automatically.

But Elizabeth had the power to amend the rules, and in 2012 she decreed that the children of Prince William and his wife, Catherine, would be princes and princesses. This decree didn鈥檛 apply to Harry and Meghan.

However, the situation changed when King Charles III ascended the throne on the death of his mother last September. William and Harry are the king鈥檚 sons, meaning their offspring are now royal grandchildren and so entitled to be known as prince and princess.

Nonetheless, they have remained a plain 鈥渕aster鈥� and 鈥渕iss鈥� on the Buckingham Palace website for the past six months.

By By Danica Kirka

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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