Prince Harry reportedly reached out to his uncle, Charles, Earl Spencer asking about changing his and his family’s surname. The aristocratic surname was famously shared by the late Diana, Princess of Wales and has been in use as an Earldom since 1761.
If the change were to happen, sources have claimed that Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet would lose their existing surname of Mountbatten-Windsor. It has also been reported that Harry has “actively explored ways” to make changes during a previous visit to the UK.
Harry’s current official surname of Mountbatten-Windsor is avaliable to all descendants of the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip – and was the one originally used for both of his children. The surname combines the Royal Family’s name of Windsor and the late Duke’s adopted surname of Mountbatten.
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The latter name was taken when Prince Philip renounced his Greek and Danish royal titles in 1947 and assumed the surname used by his uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten.
Although Mountbatten-Windsor is known to have previously been used by six-year-old Archie and Lilibet – who is set to turn four later this week – the surname is not commonly used by Prince William’s three children.
Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7, are said to use the surname Wales – having previously used Cambridge as their surname when their parents were known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Speaking of Harry’s alleged conversation with his uncle, the source explained: “They had a very amicable conversation and Spencer advised him against taking such a step.”
Speaking of Harry’s family’s surname, his wife Meghan previously corrected her friend Mindy Kaling during an episode of her Netflix show.
She said: “It’s so funny you keep saying Meghan Markle – you know I’m Sussex now.
“You have kids and you go, ‘No, I share my name with my children’. I didn’t know how meaningful it would be to me but it just means so much to go ‘This is our family name. Our little family name.'”