Will Baby Archie Become An American Citizen?

Welcome to the world, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. Let’s catch you up. You’re seventh in line to the throne of England. Your mommy and daddy’s home countries are embroiled in political drama. And, as Mufasa says to Simba at the top of Pride Rock, it all could be yours — if you get American citizenship, that is.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have previously expressed that they want their son to become a “global citizen.” Symbolically, Archie already represents a marriage between the two countries. Chances are, dual citizenship is just a bit of paperwork away. He'd be the first member of the royal family to have U.S.-U.K. dual citizenship.

Archie, who was born in a London hospital on May 6, is automatically a British citizen, because his father, Harry, is a citizen (and Archie’s member of the royal family, so, duh). Getting American citizenship is a bit more complicated — but not by much, in Archie's case.

According to the U.S. State Department’s website, “A person born abroad in wedlock to a U.S. citizen and an alien acquires U.S. citizenship at birth if the U.S. citizen parent has been physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions prior to the person’s birth for the period required by the statute in effect when the person was born. For birth on or after November 14, 1986, the U.S. citizen parent must have been physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for five years prior to the person’s birth, at least two of which were after the age of fourteen.”

Translation: A kid born aboard to a married American and non-citizen gets automatic citizenship, so long as the citizen parent had been in the country for at least five years before the kid was born. That checks out: Markle was born and raised in Los Angeles, California.

Finally, a clue to Archie’s American future might be embedded in his name. Prince William and Kate Middleton’s kids each have two middle names: George Alexander Louis, Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, Louis Arthur Charles. Among the posh sets of Britain, having multiple middle names is common, like Rosamund Mary Ellen Pike.

Notably, Archie only has one middle name, which is the more conventional naming practice in the United States. Perhaps Meghan and Harry are priming him for an American passport — and a future as a "global citizen."