Latest news with #surnameChange
Fox News
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Prince Harry deepens family rift by reportedly considering name change: expert
Prince Harry reportedly made a move that has deepened his ongoing rift with his family. The Duke of Sussex spoke to his uncle, Earl Charles Spencer, about the idea of taking his late mother Princess Diana's surname for his family, People magazine reported. According to The Mail on Sunday, the 40-year-old was considering adopting his mother's last name, which would have meant abandoning the surname used by his children: Mountbatten-Windsor. Fox News Digital reached out to a spokesperson for the prince and the earl for comment. "Trying to change his surname has an air of revenge," British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard claimed to Fox News Digital. "Such a hurtful and vindictive move to King Charles," she claimed. "It highlights Prince Harry's little to no regard for his family. A huge amount of bitterness and frustration bubbling away in Harry could have led to him feeling the Spencer name would help grow his royal court." "For Harry to consider doing this, he must still feel very embittered," royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told Fox News Digital. "King Charles will regard this with great sadness… What will Harry think up next?" The Mail on Sunday reported that Harry discussed the idea of the name change with the 9th Earl Spencer, who is Diana's younger brother, during a visit to the U.K. "They had a very amicable conversation and Spencer advised him against taking such a step," a friend of Harry's told the outlet. "Once again, Prince Harry has managed to make yet another deeply divisive and emotionally charged move, further fracturing his already tenuous relationship with the royal family," British royal expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital. "The overwhelming advice from within his own family, particularly from his Uncle Earl Spencer, is to abandon the ludicrous idea due to its legal and emotional consequences," she claimed. "Even his inquiry highlights the enduring complexities of Harry's relationship with his royal roots… It further thwarts any future reconciliation." Fordwich claimed that the royals are "hurt and dismayed" by this latest revelation, "causing additional damage to the already strained family relations." WATCH: PRINCE HARRY LOOKING TO RECONCILE WITH KING CHARLES, ROYAL FAMILY "In addition, it's viewed as a direct insult to his father, King Charles III, as well as his extended royal family," Fordwich claimed. "Ironically, Harry was close to Prince Philip, who fought for the historical significance of the Mountbatten-Windsor name for his descendants. So it is a direct insult to him." People magazine reported that Harry's two children, Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, who turns 4 on June 4, have Mountbatten-Windsor as their last names on their birth certificates. However, the family now uses Sussex as their last name, just like how Harry was known as "Harry Wales" during his childhood when his parents held the titles of Prince and Princess of Wales. It's a tradition within the royal family for children to take their parents' titles as a surname. Mountbatten-Windsor is the British royal family's official surname. The outlet noted that dropping the surname would be viewed as a slight to the king, who "cherishes the Mountbatten name just as his father did." The Mountbatten name was adopted by the Greek-born Philip when he became a British citizen in 1947 and joined the Royal Navy. Windsor was adopted by King George V as the British royal surname in 1917. People reported that in 1960, Queen Elizabeth II and Philip determined that Mountbatten-Windsor would be the surname for their direct descendants. Fordwich claimed that in Harry's eyes, using Spencer would be honoring his mother, Princess Diana, and "distancing himself from the rest of the royal institution he feels alienated from." "There is also some speculation that Harry's wife, Meghan Markle, wants their children to be more closely associated with Diana's legacy, especially their daughter, Princess Lilibet, whose full name is Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor," said Fordwich. Still, Fordwich noted that "family relations remain immensely strained," and this latest report would only hurt the king. "King Charles III is hesitant to speak with Harry, and Prince William is disgusted that he keeps referencing their mother," Fordwich claimed. "Trust and communication are currently at an all-time low. Any hope of rapprochement is now said to be 'in tatters,' particularly given Harry's wish to change his surname, which is viewed as a final break from his royal roots." Harry's troubled relationship with his family and the U.K. establishment has played out in public for years – in books, interviews, TV programs and the courts. Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, stepped back as senior royals in 2020, citing the unbearable intrusions of the British press and a lack of support from the palace. That same year, they moved to California, where they are raising their two children. Since the couple's royal exit, they have aired their grievances and made blistering allegations against the royal family. Harry's explosive 2023 memoir, "Spare," was stuffed with private details and embarrassing revelations. Harry's rift with his family burst into the open once more with a raw interview he gave to the BBC in May after losing a court case over his security. In a long and at times emotional conversation, Harry said he wanted reconciliation. He admitted that his father, who is battling an undisclosed form of cancer, won't speak to him. Harry's pals previously told People magazine that the king, 76, won't respond to Harry's phone calls and letters. Royal experts also claimed to Fox News Digital that Harry's older brother, William, who is heir to the British throne, refuses to speak with him. "Spencer may be an aristocratic name famously shared by Prince Harry's late mother," said Chard. "However, if Harry hoped to use the surname Spencer to rehabilitate his image, he needs to rethink the bonkers possibility." "Prince Harry is beginning to resemble the hapless 'Frank Spencer,' the fictional character in the old British sitcom 'Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em," she added. The series, which aired from 1973 to 1978, follows the misadventures of accident-prone Spencer, who "fails to navigate the simplest tasks of daily life, while also trying to look after his wife and baby." Royal expert Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News Digital he wasn't surprised that Harry considered changing his surname to Spencer. He pointed out that the prince has a closer connection to his late mother's family. "Prince Harry, at the time of this alleged conversation, was at a very low ebb," Turner explained. "He found tremendous support from Earl Spencer and Diana's two sisters, who rallied around [him]… The Spencer name is always a potential path for the beleaguered couple and their children. But at this stage, it's not on the horizon." "The royal family and Harry are still seemingly at war with each other," Turner added. Chard claimed that Harry could have plenty to gain from using the Spencer surname. "No doubt Prince Harry feels reinventing himself keeps him relevant," she claimed. "The world still has a love affair with the late Princess Diana. Harry and Meghan could take a cash grab of Princess Diana's legacy. [However], tarnishing Princess Diana's legacy would leave a bitter taste in the public's mouths." Meghan previously told People magazine that taking the Sussex name has a deep meaning for her family. "It's our shared name as a family, and I guess I hadn't recognized how meaningful that would be to me until we had children," the 43-year-old told the outlet. "I love that that is something that Archie, Lili, H and I all have together. It means a lot to me."
News.com.au
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Why Prince Harry wants to ‘change his name'
COMMENT All those centuries ago, Will 'I Am' Shakespeare put scratchy quill to parchment and gave us that habitually handy line, 'a rose by another other name' blah, blah, blah. According to him, a bloom, no matter what you it, smells just as nice, an adage that Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex appears to believe in too after it was claimed on Sunday that he considered changing his surname to Spencer. The Daily Mail has reported that the duke 'actively explored ways to assume' Princess Diana's surname and went so far as to seek advice from her brother Earl Spencer however 'was told that the legal hurdles were insurmountable.' 'They had a very amicable conversation and [Earl] Spencer advised him against taking such a step,' a friend of Harry's told the Mail. Per the astonishing report, the duo had the tete-a-tete when the duke was back in the UK. Harry was previously reported to have stayed with his uncle at the Spencers ancestral seat of Althorp in August last year when he returned to Britain for his uncle Lord Robert Fellowes' funeral. Let's get the obvious out of the road - if Harry had gone ahead with this it would have been a truly stunning slap in the face for his father King Charles. (It's remarkable really - somehow, even after Oprah and Netflix and Spare, the duke is still coming up with new ways to even further publicly spurn the royal family.) Still, even the very fact that Harry entertained the idea of dumping the surname available to members of the royal family - Mountbatten-Windsor - is genuinely shocking stuff. At this rate he'll be dying his signature ginger locks blonde to distance himself further from his former life. Of course, things have hardly been all warm and fuzzy between Harry and the King for years, with things so bad that His Majesty is unable to find even a spare ten minute window in his diary to make polite chit chat about the weather with his son. In fact the entente is so far from cordiale that Harry's calls to Charles, 'go unanswered,' a friend of his somehow managed to let slip to People last year 'He gets unavailable right now'. Added to which there is also still the reportedly unhealed sore that was Harry's decision to tell all in his 2023 memoir, in which he not only had go's at his father and Prince William but included digs about Queen Camilla and Kate, The Princess of Wales too. Forgiveness, from the Prince of Wales, per reports, could not be further from the cards. However despite this complicated backstory, this name Spencer claim is astonishing. Frosty relations and Whatsapp messages left unread are one thing but going to the legal extreme of changing your name is another. If Harry had gone through with this it would have translated to him amputating himself, irrevocably, from the royal family. (The necessary background bit: Mountbatten-Windsor is the name on the birth certificates of Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, however there is also a convention to use one's father's title too. That's why William and Harry were known at school as 'Wales'. In February 2024 it was reported that Harry, his wife Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex and their kids used 'Sussex'. In an episode of the duchess' With Love Meghan she awkwardly corrected 'friend' Mindy Kaling after the comedian called her 'Meghan Markle'. Note, there will be a quiz on this at the end.) What's missing from the Mail's bombshell Spencer story is the question of what this surname switcheroo would or could have meant for their royal titles. (At least they would not have to have any of their napkins or bespoke pickleball racquets re-monogrammed.) If the duke went so far as to stump up the £50.32 required to change his name via UK deed poll, how could they have straight-faced kept calling themselves the Duke and Duchess of Sussex? In this scenario the question is, would they have simply become plain old Harry and Meghan Spencer instead? What is also unexplored in the Mail story are Meghan's feelings about dumping her royal married name. Given that recently the duchess has, twice, reminded the world she is still, technically, an HRH, it's a tough sell to imagine her merrily binning her duchess title to be a bog standard Mrs. You also have to wonder if the Duke of Sussex, a man who has proven to be a bust as a podcaster and TV producer, had considered the commercial implications of his Spencer plan? 'Harry Spencer' might smell as sweet to him - but what about when it comes to his money-making career? Would coaching company BetterUp be just as happy to have 'Harry Spencer' as their Chief Impact Officer, a title and role that four years on remains as nebulous and detail-deficient as ever? In late May, the Daily Mail reported that the duke is set to launch an 'as-yet-undisclosed commercial venture in the next few months'. Would 'Harry Spencer' have the same access to funding and connections and help as Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, Earl of Dumbarton and Baron Kilkeel? And would 'Meghan Spencer' but have just as much of a booster in Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos who, another Mail report detailed, calls 'the rock star'? (Sarandos, a well-placed source, told the paper the streaming boss 'is a massive, massive fan of Meghan personally…He is all in.') Ponder, if you will, the existential question - who or what are Harry and Meghan as a brand and an enterprise without their royal identities? As it is, even with 'duke' and 'duchess' still firmly slapped all over the shop, they are about to embark on an uncertain US next chapter. They have moved on from their days of monetising their royal angst, handy since it's positively old, tired hat now. Unfortunately, their attempts to establish themselves in the entertainment industry have amounted to hits, misses and repeated claims they are, at times, about as easy to work for as Genghis Khan in a right mood. Harry's Heart of Invictus and Polo were both lavish productions that did about as well with audiences as a live stream of porridge cooling. He never once managed to get a podcast idea across the line in the two and a half years the couple had a contract with Spotify. Meghan has proven much more successful, turning her hand to investing, making a TV show that valiantly fought to make the case to put flower sprinkles on a frittata, and selling jars of fruit spreads for $21.70 a pop. She also has entered influencer territory having launched a ShopMy account meaning she can monetise her impeccable style. (The woman truly knows her way around a fabulous neutral separate or 17 and a spot of Cartier.) At least Ted Sarandos and whoever might be involved in Harry's mystery commercial venture can rest easy knowing that the Sussexes' name and titles are still firmly in place. However, as they breathe deep sighs of relief, how must this Spencer news make Charles feel? In the last four years he has lost his father, Prince Philip, his mother, the late Queen, and to a large degree one of his sons. And for Harry, he has left behind his homeland, his father, his brother, his military roles, a decent chunk of his raison être and his lifetime membership card to Annabel's. If anyone you know still has a quill, this level of family drama is such that it would be perfect for the stage of The Globe.
