Prince Harry and Meghan Markle discussed the possibility of changing their family’s last name to match his late mother, Princess Diana.
Us Weekly discovered that Harry, aged 40, discussed the possibility of adopting the family name with his uncle Charles Spencer. Charles, 61, was said to have shown great enthusiasm and support for the idea of the name change as reported by the U.K. publication The Guardian on Wednesday, June 4.
According to The Guardian, the talks about changing surnames arose due to ongoing delays in the process of obtaining British passports for Harry and Meghan’s children, Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4. The passports were eventually issued almost half a year after the original application was made.
The same news source speculated that the delays occurred because Harry and Meghan, aged 43, had included the titles HRH in Archie and Lili’s passport applications. The Guardian mentioned that Harry wishes for his children to maintain their titles so that they have the freedom to choose whether they want to pursue roles within the royal family. (Harry and Meghan stepped back from their royal duties in 2020.)
Wednesday’s report came days after The Mail on Sunday initially reported that Charles advised Harry against taking the Spencer name. Us understands that this is an inaccurate representation of Harry’s conversation with his uncle.
Reports regarding the surname come amid Harry’s ongoing rift with the royal family, which recently deepened following the Duke of Sussex’s legal loss last month.
On May 2, a judge ruled against Harry’s appeal for government-funded security in the U.K. for him and Meghan. After the ruling, Harry claimed that his father, King Charles III, “won’t speak to me” and pleaded for the feud to end.
“I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore,” he said at the time. “Life is precious. I don’t know how much longer my father has.”
Harry also alluded to his father being involved in the legal loss.
“There is a lot of control and ability in my father’s hands,” Harry told the BBC. “Ultimately, this whole thing could be resolved through him. Not necessarily by intervening, but by stepping aside, allowing the experts [to] do what is necessary.”
Harry stated that he had “forgiven” the royals. “There have been so many disagreements between myself and some of my family,” he added, noting that “it would be nice to reconcile.”
His public plea has also caused deeper issues with Harry and his brother, Prince William, who was “absolutely appalled” by the recent comments, a source told Us Weekly exclusively in this week’s cover story.
“There is no turning back for William,” the same insider shared. “The door is firmly shut.”
