Prince Harry sought advice from Princess Diana’s brother about changing his family name to Spencer, The Mail on Sunday has learned.
Sources said the Duke of Sussex actively explored ways to assume his mother’s surname – a move that would have involved ditching Mountbatten-Windsor, used by his children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
It is understood he discussed the issue with Earl Spencer – whose family seat is Althorp in Northamptonshire – during a rare visit to Britain, but was told that the legal hurdles were insurmountable.
‘They had a very amicable conversation and Spencer advised him against taking such a step,’ said a friend of Harry.
Nevertheless, the fact that he consulted the Earl over the issue – a proposal that would dismay his brother and father – is a vivid expression of the toxic rift with his family.
Mountbatten-Windsor is the surname available to descendants of the late Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. It combines the Royal Family’s name of Windsor and the Duke of Edinburgh’s adopted surname.
On their birth certificates, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s children are Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor and Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.
Royal author Tom Bower has claimed that ‘Meghan decided her real object in life was to be Diana’. If the name change had succeeded, Meghan’s daughter, who is believed to have met the King only once, would have become Lilibet Diana Spencer, a more fulsome tribute to Harry’s late mother.
It is understood Prince Harry (right) discussed changing his family name with Earl Spencer (left)
A young Prince Harry with his mother Princess Diana during a visit to Majorca in 1987
Althorp House – the Spencer family seat in Northamptonshire
The move would be particularly hurtful to King Charles, who cherishes the Mountbatten name just as his father did.
A mentor to Prince Philip, the 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma was also a strong influence on his great-nephew, the future King Charles.
Philip adopted the Mountbatten name when he became a naturalised British subject and renounced his Greek and Danish royal title in 1947. The Queen and Philip decided in 1960 that they would like their own direct descendants to be known as Mountbatten-Windsor.
According to the Government, you do not have to follow a legal process to start using a new name, but it suggests on its official website using a ‘deed poll’ to apply for or to change official documents such as a passport or driving licence.
Names and titles are a highly sensitive subject for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. They were given their Sussex titles by Queen Elizabeth on the day of their wedding in 2018.
Meghan recently insisted her surname is Sussex, correcting a guest on her Netflix cookery and lifestyle programme.
In episode two of With Love, Meghan, which was released in March, the 43-year-old former actress was joined by comedienne Mindy Kaling.
Meghan told her: ‘It’s so funny you keep saying ‘Meghan Markle’ – you know I’m Sussex now.’
Princess Diana enjoys a ride with her youngest son Harry at Thorpe Park in 1992
Comedienne Mindy Kaling (right) in the second episode of With Love, Meghan on Netflix
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As Ms Kaling looked confused, the duchess, who has visited the county of Sussex only once, continued: ‘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.’ ‘
The Sussexes used the title princess for their daughter, Lilibet, for the first time after her christening in California was announced in 2023.
A spokesman for the couple said: ‘The children’s titles have been a birthright since their grandfather became monarch. This matter has been settled for some time in alignment with Buckingham Palace.’
The children were subsequently officially named as prince and princess on the Royal Family’s official website.
Archie, now aged six, and Lilibet, who turns four on Wednesday, were named as the Prince and Princess of Sussex on the line of succession page of the official Royal Family website. They are sixth and seventh in line to the throne. Previously they were listed as Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor and Miss Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor.
The rules governing the titles of royal children were set out by George V – Queen Elizabeth’s grandfather – in 1917.
Archie and Lilibet were not prince and princess at birth, because they were not grandchildren of the monarch, but they gained the right to these titles when King Charles acceded to the throne.
Prince Harry holds his mother’s hand at Clarence House on the Queen Mother’s 92nd birthday in 1992
Meghan and Harry’s son was born in 2019 and christened as Archie Mountbatten-Windsor
During an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, Meghan suggested that Archie had been denied his birthright of the title ‘prince’ by the Palace
During the Sussexes’ explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, Meghan suggested to the American chat-show host that Archie had been denied his birthright of the title ‘prince’ by the Palace and that the decision went against protocol.
She spoke of her shock at being told he would not get police protection because he did not have a title, and suggested that the decision was taken because of his mixed race.
‘It’s not their right to take away,’ Meghan said. Asked by Ms Winfrey, ‘Do you think it’s because of his race?’, the duchess replied: ‘In those months when I was pregnant, all around this same time, so we [had] the conversation of he won’t be given security, he’s not going to be given a title. And, also, concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.’
At the time the claims caused shock and bewilderment at Buckingham Palace, with the late Queen subsequently publishing a statement including the memorable phrase, ‘some recollections may vary’.