Meghan Markle Corrects Reports on Baby Archie’s Birth Certificate, Denies it’s Snub to Kate Middleton

Meghan Markle quickly corrected a tabloid report that claimed a change made to son Archie’s birth certificate could be seen as a “snub” at her sister-in-law, Kate Middleton. The Duchess of Sussex’s real name was removed from the document, but the former Suits actress had nothing to do with the change, which was done over a year ago. Markle’s spokesperson said the idea that she would deliberately ask for the change “would be laughable were it not offensive.”

Over the weekend, The Sun reported that Archie’s certificate was edited to list “Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Sussex” as his mother, and it previously listed “Rachel Meghan Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Sussex.” (Markle was born Rachel Meghan Markle, but she used her middle name as an actress.) The Sun claimed the “unprecedented move” could be viewed as a snub at Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, who included Middleton’s name on their children’s birth certificates. Ingrid Seward, a “royal expert,” theorized that the move was “another sign” Markle and Prince Harry are “desperate to do something different” than William and Middleton.

Markle’s spokesperson denied there was any nefarious reason for the change and said the Sussexes had nothing to do with it. In fact, they said the change was requested by Buckingham Palace in 2019, not by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. “To see this U.K. tabloid and their carnival of so-called ‘experts’ hose 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,” the statement reads.”There’s a lot going on in the world; let’s focus on that rather than clickbait.”

Harry, Markle, and Archie now live in California after they left behind their roles as senior members of the royal family in 2020. There have long been rumors about a rift between Harry and William, but royal expert Kate Nicholl told Entertainment Tonight earlier this month they reconnected over the holidays. They are the only children of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and William is second in line to the British throne, behind their father. Nicholl said the two connected virtually and the Sussexes sent presents to the U.K.

“Things are a lot better between William and Harry. If you go back a year at that stage, these brothers were barely on talking terms,” Nicholl explained. “When William went to the Sandringham Summit, he was so angry with his brother. He couldn’t even face going to that lunch with the Queen. He only went for the meetings, such was his frustration and feeling of disappointment about what his brother had done and how Harry was handling the situation.”