bitchy | Prince Harry consulted his uncle Charles about changing his surname to Spencer

Something we’ve learned over the years is that Prince Harry has always maintained good relations with his mother’s family. He’s close to his aunts (Diana’s sisters Jane and Sarah), he’s close to the Earl Spencer (Diana’s brother Charles) and he’s close to many of his Spencer cousins. If you ask me, it looks like Harry always maintained closer relations with the Spencers than Prince William ever has. Charles Spencer and Harry’s aunts all attended last year’s Invictus service in London, and I believe the theory that Charles Spencer has visited the Sussexes in Montecito at least once (possibly more). I also think Harry is more of a Spencer – he famously has the “Spencer temperament” and he’s the most like Diana. So is it a surprise that at one point, Harry considered changing his surname to Spencer?

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.

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.

[From The Daily Mail]

Fun fact, QEII only changed the family surname to Mountbatten-Windsor because Prince Philip kept insisting and arguing with her about it. It was important to Philip – less so to Charles, although he was close to Lord Mountbatten, whom he considered a surrogate father and mentor. As for Harry talking to the Earl Spencer about it… I actually believe that Harry probably did ask his uncle’s opinion, just as I believe that Harry was open to changing his surname completely. You also have to understand, Charles purposely kept the Sussexes in limbo after he became king – he originally intended to change the George V letters patent to remove the titles of Harry, Meghan and their children. Charles ended up not doing that and so that’s why H&M still have their Sussex title AND their HRHs. I think at some point (circa 2023), Harry and Meghan were just like, “f–k it, Sussex is our surname now.”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.