Prince Harry reportedly asked his uncle, Princess Diana’s brother Earl Spencer, about changing his family name, indicating the royal tensions remain unresolved.
During a recent trip to the UK, the Duke of Sussex sought advice from his uncle about adopting his late mother’s surname, according to the Daily Mail.
If he had chosen to take his mother’s last name, the Invictus Games founder would have had to give up the Mountbatten-Windsor surname—one previously shared by his children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
Harry, 40, was advised against the change by his 61-year-old uncle, who reportedly cautioned that the legal process would be too complicated.
“They had a very amicable conversation, and Spencer advised him not to take such a step,” a friend of the “Spare” author told the outlet.
The Post has contacted representatives for Harry and Earl Spencer for comment.
Unsurprisingly, the idea would likely have been met with disapproval from King Charles and Prince William, both of whom have long valued the Mountbatten-Windsor name.
Currently, members of the royal family descended from the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip can use the Mountbatten-Windsor surname.
This family name merges the Windsor name with Philip’s adopted surname, Mountbatten.
On their birth certificates, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s children are named Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor and Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.
While Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s children were previously known by the Mountbatten-Windsor surname, it was revealed last year that the family had officially chosen “Sussex” as their last name.
Meghan Markle confirmed this earlier this year, sharing that she now goes by Meghan Sussex.
In Netflix’s “With Love, Meghan,” she quickly corrected actress Mindy Kaling about her surname.
“It’s so funny that you keep saying ‘Meghan Markle.’ You know I’m Sussex now,” Markle told the 45-year-old “Mindy Project” star.
“You have kids and you go, ‘No, I share my name with my children,’” said the duchess, who has only visited the English county of Sussex once.
“I didn’t realize how meaningful it would be to me, but it means so much to say, ‘This is our family name. Our little family name.’”
Following the episode, she was called “Meghan Sussex” during her interview on “The Drew Barrymore Show.”
