The estranged royals seem to be inside a loop of last name confusion!
First, it was Sussex. Now, Prince Harry is reportedly considering adding his late mother, Princess Diana’s maiden surname, to his family name.
What’s happening?
Prince Harry has reportedly been in discussions with his uncle, Charles Spencer, regarding the possibility of adopting his late mother, Princess Diana's, surname for his family. According to sources, the Duke of Sussex, who is 40 years old, explored the option of changing his family's last name to Spencer, which would involve moving away from Mountbatten-Windsor, the surname currently used by his children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
During a recent visit to the UK, Harry allegedly had an amicable conversation with Charles Spencer, the 9th Earl Spencer, and Diana's younger brother.
However, Spencer advised against the change, citing potential legal challenges that would make it impractical.
While Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's children, Archie, aged 6, and Lilibet, who will turn 4 on June 4, have Mountbatten-Windsor on their birth certificates, the family often goes by "Sussex" as their last name. This aligns with Harry's childhood nickname, "Harry Wales," which reflected the titles held by his parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales.
The surname fiasco!
This isn’t the first time the ex-royals have faced bumps in the road regarding their surnames.
The choice of surname has garnered attention, particularly after Meghan's Netflix series, ‘With Love, Meghan’, when she corrected a friend for referring to her by her maiden name, Markle.
As seen in the second episode of Meghan’s lifestyle show, the Duchess of Sussex and Mindy Kaling were preparing for a garden party and talked about the foods they ate when they were kids. As Kaling was surprised when Meghan revealed her childhood food habits, The Mindy Project star said, "People wouldn’t believe that Meghan Markle ate at Jack in the Box!"
Meghan then went on to correct her, saying, "It’s so funny, too, that you keep saying Meghan Markle. You know I’m Sussex now." She added, "You have kids and you go, ‘No, I share my name with my children,' " she emphasized. "I didn’t know how meaningful that would be to me, but it just means so much to go, this is our family name, our little family name."
Kaling nodded to her and replied, "Now I know, and I love it."
Later, Meghan revealed to PEOPLE that the Sussex name "is part of our love story" that she will tell Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet about one day, saying "I think as the kids get older, they’re so excited about, ‘Oh my gosh, Mama and Papa, how did you meet?’ I think that will come with time as they get older, but for right now, a huge part of our love story is that we share the name Sussex.”
How the last names work in the royal family:
As explained on the royal family's official website, in 1917, George V adopted Windsor as the royal surname. In 1960, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip added Mountbatten-Windsor for their descendants. While royal children usually don’t need a surname, they use Mountbatten-Windsor when required.
As the Royals are shifted in their ranks with time, their titles change as well.
For example, Prince Harry, who is a Sussex now, used his father's title as a last name while growing up in school. Harry and Meghan’s children, Archie and Lilibet, now do the same, i.e., use Sussex as their surname. However, when born, the siblings were originally named "Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor" and "Miss Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor" on their birth certificates, using the royal family’s official surname.
Using royal titles as family surnames is a longstanding tradition. Instead of using titles like Mountbatten-Windsor, royal children typically adopt their parents' titles as their surname. For example, Prince Harry and Prince William were known as "Harry Wales" and "William Wales" during their school years and time in the military.
Why the constant change?
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle got married in 2018, and the couple stepped down as senior royals in 2020. As part of their agreement, Buckingham Palace stated that they would no longer use the "His/Her Royal Highness" (HRH) honorifics, as they were no longer working members of the Royal Family. However, while they relinquished their HRH titles, they retained their titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
When King Charles ascended to the throne in September 2022 after Queen Elizabeth II passed away, Archie and Lilibet were afforded the titles of prince and princess. Soon after, the children's names were updated on the royal family's website to "Prince Archie of Sussex" and "Princess Lilibet of Sussex" in the official line of succession.
The royal cousins:
Archie and Lili's first cousins Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6, who are the children of Prince William and Pricess Kate, are officially listed with a similar styling of "Prince George of Wales," "Princess Charlotte of Wales" and "Prince Louis of Wales" as a reflection of their father Prince William's Prince of Wales current title. The children now use "Wales" as their surname at school as well.
Prior to William's accession to the Prince of Wales title, the children used “Cambridge” as their last name in school, as William's previous title was Duke of Cambridge.
Meanwhile, their elder cousins, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, used "York" as their last name, a nod to their father, Prince Andrew’s title as Duke of York.
Why add Spencer now?
Tensions between Prince Harry and King Charles have persisted since Harry and Meghan stepped back from royal duties in 2020. A notable point of contention remains the couple's loss of state-funded security, which Harry highlighted during a recent BBC interview, indicating he would hesitate to return to the UK with his family without adequate protection.
As the surname Mountbatten-Windsor is formally used by some descendants of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, speculation suggests that if Harry were to change his family's name, it could be perceived as a slight towards King Charles, who values the Mountbatten name.
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