What are Earl of Dumbarton and Baron Kilkeel?

Royal custom dictates that male members of the royal family are granted peerage titles when they marry. On the day of their wedding, Queen Elizabeth II conferred three titles upon Prince Harry: Duke of Sussex for England, Earl of Dumbarton for Scotland, and Baron Kilkeel for Northern Ireland.

Earl of Dumbarton

The Earl of Dumbarton title dates back to 1675, originally granted to George Douglas, a younger son of the first Marquess of Douglas. Dumbarton is a town on the north bank of the River Clyde in western Scotland. Harry was named Earl of Dumbarton as his Scottish title. It gives him an honorary association with Scottish heritage and tradition.

There is also a well-known story behind why Harry and Meghan Markle chose not to pass this title down to their son, Prince Archie. According to The Telegraph, a source close to the couple said they rejected passing the Dumbarton title on to Archie because of its unfortunate phonetics: "They didn't like the idea of Archie being called the Earl of Dumbarton because it began with the word 'dumb.' They were worried about how that might look."

Baron Kilkeel

Baron Kilkeel is a title that had never been used before, created specifically for Harry at the time of his marriage. Kilkeel is a small fishing town in County Down, Northern Ireland. The barony was newly created to allow Prince Harry to hold a Northern Irish title.

How they all fit together

Duke of Sussex remains Harry's primary title and is used in official contexts. He remains Earl of Dumbarton and Baron Kilkeel as subsidiary titles, which are rarely used publicly but remain part of his official style. Think of them as layers: the dukedom is the headline, the earldom and barony are the supporting tiers below it, each one anchoring him to a different part of the United Kingdom.