Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have officially changed their children’s last names from Mountbatten-Windsor to Sussex. According to a report by The Times of London, this is a controversial change for royal experts in the U.K., though the nuances might be hard to parse for most people. The name change came alongside a drastic brand update and the launch of their new website, Sussex.com.
Mountbatten-Windsor is the personal surname created for use by the descendants of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. Prince Harry passed it on to his first child with Markle, whose full legal name was Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor at the time of his birth. Their second child was named Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor at birth, and she was born after her parents moved to the U.S. Following the typical naming conventions, the surname for Prince Harry and his family changed when his father became King Charles III. They now all use Sussex as their last name.
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It’s not unheard of for British aristocrats to use the name of their title dukedom as a surname, but it is typically styled like “Prince Archie of Sussex” rather than “Prince Archie Sussex.” However, official paperwork usually omits the “of” – for example, in school Prince William and Prince Harry’s names were listed as “William Wales” and “Harry Wales” because their father was Charles Prince of Wales at the time.
Prince Harry and Markle reportedly decided to make this change because of Princess Lilibet. When they moved to the U.S., the queen asked them not to use a coat of arms or use Sussex Royal as their brand name. They decided to use Archewell for all their endeavors, but once they had a daughter they felt bad that the name did not honor her as well. However, when the queen passed away and Prince Harry’s father became the king, Archie and Lilibet officially had their titles upgraded to “Prince and Princess of Sussex.”
Still, critics have come down on Prince Harry and Markle for using the name “Sussex” in their official branding since they are no longer a working on behalf of the royal family. They have also been criticized for using a coat of arms on their new website. It’s unclear if the king was consulted or informed of these decisions. So far, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have not responded publicly to these critiques.
