Royals Meghan Markle Says There Were 'Conversations' About 'How Dark' Archie's Skin Color Would Be The Duchess of Sussex also says her son was denied a royal title and security By Michelle Tauber Michelle Tauber Twitter Michelle Tauber is the Senior Editor overseeing Royals coverage at PEOPLE People Editorial Guidelines Published on March 7, 2021 09:01 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Meghan Markle says that her son Archie was denied a royal title and royal protection — and that there were "concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born." In her sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey, which aired Sunday on CBS, Meghan said the palace decreed that Archie — who turns 2 in May — would not have any title, a move she says was "different from protocol." "They didn't want him to be a prince . . . which would be different from protocol, and that he wasn't going to receive security," she told Oprah. What's more, she says, "we have in tandem the conversation of, 'He won't be given security. He's not going to be given a title.' And also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born." Meghan Markle. CBS/Youtube An astonished Oprah asked Meghan who made that comment, with Meghan declining to answer, saying the revelation would be too damaging. Later in the interview, Oprah pressed Harry on the issue, asking him who was behind the racially charged comment. "That conversation I'm never going to share," he said. "It was awkward. I was a bit shocked." He also said that the conversation happened early in his romance with Meghan. "That was right at the beginning: What will the kids look like?' " Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. CBS/Youtube When Prince Harry, 36, and Meghan, 39, were married in May 2018, Queen Elizabeth gave them the titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Archie was entitled to a "courtesy title," Earl of Dumbarton. However, the couple announced shortly after his birth that they had not given him a courtesy title and he would be known as Archie Mountbatten-Windsor. Under current guidelines, great-grandchildren of the monarch are not princes or princesses, except for children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales, which is why Prince William and Kate Middleton's children are Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. It is possible that Archie could receive a royal title later in life. When his grandfather, Prince Charles becomes king (in the event of Queen Elizabeth's death), the title of "prince" will be automatically given to him as the child of a son of the king. However, Meghan and Harry can also choose not to use the title that would be conferred to Archie after Charles becomes king. Down the line, Archie could be given the secondary Sussex title before inheriting the dukedom.