As Prince Harry and Meghan collected a torrent of felicitations from all around the world on the birth of their son Master Archie Harrison Mountbatten - Windsor on May 6, a startling piece of information has come our way that suggests Meghan doesn't have the legal custody of her son.
Not only this, even Prince Harry is devoid of this right.
All of this is under an intriguing yet fascinating law according to which parents of a child born in the royal family do not have full legal custody of their wards.
As per the law - enacted more than three centuries ago - it is the Queen that actually has the legal custody of the children, royal expert Marlene Koenig revealed.
The law, called “The Grand Opinion for the Prerogative Concerning the Royal Family,” was introduced by King George I in 1717.
“George I did not get along with his son, the future George II,” Koenig told The Independent.
She added, “I believe it came about when the Prince of Wales [George II] did not want to have the godparent for his son that his father wanted - so George I got Parliament to come up with something.”
According to Koenig, the law became problematic in 1994 when Lady Diana, the Princess of Wales, separated from Charles, Prince of Wales.
Diana desired to take their sons, Harry and William, to live with her in Australia, but was unable to due to the rules outlined in the custody law.
This means that the Queen has full custody of all her great-grandchildren, including the children of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
However, Koenig believes that she would never have the need to act upon it.
"I would doubt that the Queen would interfere. [It’s] more of a formality,” she says.
“I think the Queen has let her children raise their kids.”