The children of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex underwent a name change last year
It’s a long time since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their move to the US out of the royal family spotlight to raise their children in the sunshine – and the couple’s choice to change the kids’ names after their birth has been explained.
Reportedly, Meghan and Harry, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, first started dating in 2016 and went public with their romance that same year.
Not wasting any time, in November 2017, the besotted couple announced their engagement and in 2018 they were married in a televised wedding within St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.
In November 2018, Meghan’s first pregnancy was announced, with their son, Archie, arriving in 2019.
Meghan being a woman of colour signalled a time of great hope and progression in the royal family, but controversy followed with the two stepping back from their duties as senior royals in 2020.
After their daughter, Lilibet was born in 2021, the pair took part in a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in which Meghan claimed a member of the royal household made comments about how dark Archie’s skin would be. She also claimed her treatment had a severe affect on her mental health.
They told their full story in their own words with the release of Netflix’s documentary Harry & Meghan in 2022.
It was clear that Meghan held many other members of the household in incredibly high esteem – her daughter’s name, Lilibet, is a nickname for Elizabeth, the name of the late Queen.
With the two now living and working in LA, they have managed to shun a lot of the negative attention and press – but fans still love learning every detail about the family.
Some were surprised that Meghan and Harry changed the last names of their children – but it’s been revealed just why they did it.
The children switched from Mountbatten-Windsor to Sussex.
It has been reported that the reason for this leads back to the coronation of King Charles on 6 May, 2023.
Archie and Lilibet were moved up in the line of succession following the coronation, and the little ones were bestowed with the new titles of Prince and Princess of Sussex.
Previously, they were officially Master Archie and Miss Lilibet.
A lesser-known fact is that the British custom for names of princes and princesses is that they adopt their titles or their parents’s titles as surnames.
As an example, at school, both Prince Harry and his brother, Prince William, had the titles of William Wales and Harry Wales to reflect their parents’ status of Prince and Princess of Wales.
So, Harry and Meghan have opted to follow tradition by adapting the surnames of their children.
