Meghan Markle denies she asked to change her name on Archie’s birth certificate
The couple were said to have taken ‘Rachel Meghan’ off their first child’s official papers and instead left ‘Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Sussex’ listed as Archie’s mother, The Sun reported.
The Duke of Sussex also changed his name on June 5, 2019, but he kept his forenames and added ‘Prince’ to his title.
When Archie was registered on May 17, 2019, his dad was listed as ‘His Royal Highness Henry Charles Albert David Duke of Sussex’ but it was later changed to ‘His Royal Highness Prince Henry Charles Albert David Duke of Sussex’.
But the name changes were not requested by Meghan or Harry and instead ordered by Buckingham Palace, said a spokesperson for the Duchess of Sussex following the reports.
The spokesperson told The Independent: ‘The change of name on public documents in 2019 was dictated by The Palace, as confirmed by documents from senior Palace officials.
‘This was not requested by Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex nor by The Duke of Sussex.’
Royal writer Ingrid Seward had told The Sun the ‘unprecedented move’ could be a ‘sign they were desperate to do something different to the Cambridges’.
The duchess’ spokesperson said the paper’s claim of a ‘snub’ or to suggest that Meghan ‘would oddly want to be nameless on her child’s birth certificate, or any other legal document, would be laughable were it not offensive’.
Kate Middleton made headlines in 2018 for keeping her first names before her royal title on her third child’s birth certificate.
William is listed as ‘His Royal Highness Prince William Arthur Philip Louis Duke of Cambridge’ and little Louis is officially named ‘His Royal Highness Prince Louis Arthur Charles of Cambridge’.
But Kate has referred to herself as ‘Catherine Elizabeth Her Royal Highness Duchess of Cambridge’.
The Sussexes’ decision could also be seen as Harry looking at his wife in the same light as his mum Diana who always referred to herself as ‘Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales’.
Lady Colin Campbell, an author who has written four books about the royal family, noticed the amendment.
She had said: ‘It is extraordinary and raises all kinds of questions about what the Sussexes were thinking.’
Archie was born on May 6, 2019, and his parents stepped back as senior royals in ‘Megxit’ on January 9, 2020.