[imagesource:netflix]

It is possible that everyone is reading way too deeply into the birth certificates of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s two children, but here we go.

When Harry and Meghan welcomed their baby daughter, Lilibet ‘Lili’ Diana, into their family, they were no longer working members of the royal family.

Since Lilibet was born in the US, her birth certificate lists Prince Harry as ‘the Duke of Sussex, His Royal Highness’ while Meghan is listed as ‘Rachel Meghan Markle’, TMZ reported. This difference is because the US requires the mother’s maiden name and the father’s legal name. Simple.

Things get more sketchy when it comes to their son Archie’s birth certificate, though.

So Archie, born Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, was born on May 6, 2019. His birth was registered days later, on May 17. The name change happened on June 5, almost a month after Archie’s birth. This change happening mere months before Meghan and Harry left royal life for life across the pond has led to speculation about why it was made.

Some say it probably had something to do with their exit from the British royal family.

Basically, Meghan’s first names, Rachel Meghan, were removed and replaced with ‘Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Sussex’.

Harry also listed his name differently on his daughter’s birth certificate than on his son’s; his first name is listed as ‘The Duke of Sussex’ and his last name is ‘His Royal Highness’, per ELLE. He does not list a middle name.

Some spread the word that this could have been a “snub” to Prince William and Kate Middleton because Kate’s names were used on the birth certificates of her three children. They also claim that it could have been seen as a way to align Meghan with Harry’s late mother Princess Diana, who always used the title ‘Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales’.

Earlier this year, a spokesperson for Meghan released a statement correcting reports that Meghan had requested her name be changed from “Rachel Meghan” to “Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Sussex.” The change, the spokesperson said, was actually one made by request of the royal institution.

From a spokesperson for Duchess Meghan: https://t.co/TuXZPRytC7 pic.twitter.com/ZyFvceqBDs

— Omid Scobie (@scobie) January 31, 2021

Either way, Lady Colin Campbell, the person who spotted the change, said that “It is extraordinary and raises all kinds of questions about what the Sussexes were thinking”.

As per the Mirror, the Queen’s former press secretary Dickie Arbiter said that the changes on Archie’s birth certificate could have been “an early part of their plan”, while royal expert Ingrid Seward said, “For a royal to change a birth certificate is unprecedented but to remove forenames is remarkable”.

“Perhaps this is another sign they were desperate to do something different to the Cambridges,” she added.

[source:elle]