Following their exit as senior royals, and amid their reported ongoing rift with the British royal family, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have broken a decades-long royal tradition. In a departure from a 64-year-old royal naming tradition, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have changed their children’s names on their royal sussex.com website, dropping the longstanding Mountbatten-Windsor surname.
Previously styled as the Mountbatten-Windsors, Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3, now carry the Sussex surname on sussex.com. The slight change in name was first revealed when the website, a “one-stop shop” for updates about the royal couple, launched back in February, but the Daily Record reported that the site relaunched on Monday, replacing the former Archwell site, with the name change garnering more attention.
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The decision to part ways with the Mountbatten-Windsor surname breaks a 64-year royal tradition established in 1960, according to the Mirror. The Mountbatten-Windsor surname was established in 1960 when the Queen’s Privy Counsel decreed that all male-line descendants of the Queen and her husband Prince Philip would bear the surname. However, according to an insider, the move doesn’t come as much of a surprise and showcases unification for the Sussex family.
“The reality behind the new site is very simple – it’s a hub for the work the Sussexes do and it reflects the fact the family have, since the King’s coronation, the same surname for the first time,” the insider told The Times. “That’s a big deal for any family. It represents their unification and it’s a proud moment.”
The move away from the Mountbatten-Windsor surname marks just the latest change to the duke and duchess’ children’s names. When they were born – Archie on May 6, 2019 and Lilibet on June 4, 2021 – neither child bore “prince” or “princess” titles, and their names were instead styled as “Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor” and “Miss Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor.” The pair were not entitled the style of Royal Highness or title of Prince or Princess due to a Letters Patent issued by King George V in 1917, which dictated that “those titles were reserved for “the grandchildren of the sons of any such sovereign in the direct male line.” Since they were great-grandchildren of the monarch at the time of their births, Archie and Lilibet did not receive the titles.
However, when Charles ascended the throne in September 2022 following Queen Elizabeth’s death, Archie and Lilibet officially became the grandchildren of the sovereign and were therefore granted the titles of prince and princess. The title change was later reflected on the British royal family’s official website, with Archie and Lilibet’s new titles being used for the first time in a statement confirming Lilibet’schristening in March 2023.
