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Over the weekend, reports circulated online regarding Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s son, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, and, more specifically, the young royal’s birth certificate. The news noted that the Duchess of Sussex’s name had been changed on the official document, with her forenames, Rachel and Meghan, being removed altogether and instead, the certificate labelling Archie’s mum as, “Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex.” Prince Harry, meanwhile, is labelled “His Royal Highness Prince Henry Charles Albert David Duke of Sussex.”
Though some tabloids reported that Markle was responsible for changing her name, today, a spokesperson for the duchess set the record straight. “The change of name on public documents in 2019 was dictated by The Palace, as confirmed by documents from senior Palace officials,” a spokesperson explained in a statement. “This was not requested by Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex nor by The Duke of Sussex.”
The spokesperson continued, “To see this UK tabloid and their carnival of so-called ‘experts’ chose to deceptively whip this into a calculated family ‘snub’ and suggest that she would oddly want to be nameless on her child’s birth certificate, or any other legal document would be laughable were it not offensive. There’s a lot going on in the world; let’s focus on that rather than creating clickbait.”
Other reports suggested that Prince Harry is likely to make a trip back to the UK in June for for the Queen and Prince Philip’s birthdays, as well as to attend the unveiling of a statue of his mother Princess Diana. Though Harry, Meghan and Archie haven’t yet visited the UK or royal family since they moved overseas last year, Meghan will stay behind in the couple’s Los Angeles home. Rather than the decision to skip the trip being due to drama, it’s reportedly more to do with uncertainty surrounding the pandemic.
But that’s not all that’s happening in the life of the Sussexes. Today, Harry accepted an apology and “substantial damages” from The Mail On Sunday and MailOnline‘s publisher over articles published in October which claimed he snubbed the Royal Marines after stepping down as a senior royal. At a remote High Court hearing on Monday morning, Harry’s lawyers said Associated Newspapers had accepted the allegations were false, “albeit after considerable damage was already done”.
The Guardian reports that Harry is donating the undisclosed sum of money to his charity, the Invictus Games Foundation.
