In an attempt to strengthen his connection to his mother’s legacy, Prince Harry is reportedly contemplating changing his surname to Spencer, the same name his mother Diana bore.
As revealed by the Daily Mail in its Sunday edition, the Duke of Sussex would have broached the subject with his uncle, Earl Charles Spencer, during a visit to the United Kingdom.
Prince Harry name change
The conversation, although friendly, would not have had the result Harry expected. His uncle suggested that he not go ahead with the idea.
Currently, Harry’s official surname is Mountbatten-Windsor, a combination adopted in 1960 by the descendants of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
This surname is inherited from the British royal family such as the Duke of Edinburgh, who had taken the name Mountbatten after renouncing his Greek and Danish titles. It is the same surname borne by the Sussex children, Archie and Lilibet.
According to sources quoted by the British tabloid, changing her surname could have further strained ties with her father, King Charles, and her brother, Prince William.
Had it materialized, her daughter would have been renamed Lilibet Diana Spencer, a direct nod to her grandmother.
Meghan Markle, for her part, has publicly referred to her surname as Sussex, the title she shares with her husband. The duchess has expressed that she no longer feels identified with her paternal surname, Markle.