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Prince Louis Arthur Charles of Cambridge is the youngest of the Duke and Duchess’s children, after Princess Charlotte, 4, and Prince George, 7. Young Louis is currently the fifth in the line of succession to the throne. He was born on April 23, 2018, and his names were chosen to honour his paternal great-great-great-uncle Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, and his paternal grandfather, Charles, Princes of Wales, respectively.

But, Prince Louis almost missed out on his ‘Prince’ title because of a centuries-old Royal law.

A law was previously in place meaning that only Prince Charles’ first grandson, Prince George, would be granted an official title.

However, Prince Louis ended up receiving his title thanks to his great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.

Under the old law, Prince George would have received his title, but his younger brother and sister would have been called Lady Charlotte Mountbatten-Windsor and Lord Louis Mountbatten-Windsor.

The law of male primogeniture would also have meant that even if Charlotte had been born first, she would have not been allowed to take on the Princess title.

To prevent this from happening, the Queen sought a legal notice that allowed all her great-grandchildren to have a royal title without the approval of Parliament.

Princess Anne, the Queen’s only daughter, decided against giving her children royal titles.

Her former husband, Mark Philips, also rejected an earldom before they were married in 1973.

Therefore they were unable to pass on a HRH title to their children, Peter Philips and Zara Tindall.

In a recent interview with Vanity Fair magazine in the lead up to the Princess Royal’s 70th birthday, she said not giving Peter and Zara tildes “was probably the right thing to do”.

She said: “I think it was probably easier for them, and I think most people would argue that there are downsides to having titles.”

Zara Tindall often speaks out on the benefits of not having a royal title.

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Zara explained how her and Philip were able to have more freedom as children without the ties to royalty.

“We were able to be more adventurous than say, William”, Zara said.

The Royal also said in a 2015 interview: “I’m very lucky that both my parents decided to not use the title and we grew up and did all the things that gave us the opportunity to do.”

As a result, Zara and her husband Mike Tindall decided to follow in Princess Anne’s footsteps.

Both their daughter, Mia, 5, and Lena, 1, do not have titles, and neither do their cousins, Savannah Philips, 9, and Isla Philips, 7.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle also decided not to give their son, Archie, 1, a royal title.

Archie Mountbatten-Windsor is too far down the line of succession to qualify for a HRH title, but he could have had the courtesy title Earl of Dumbarton.

He was also entitled to be called Lord Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, but the couple likely took the decision in a bid to give the youngster as normal a childhood as possible.

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