Prince Harry’s first name has been changed and he himself does not understand why. As for his wife, it is her middle name that is highlighted.
A first name stays with us for life, but sometimes certain nicknames stick with us. This is particularly the case for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Indeed, the couple known as Sussex or Mountbatten-Windsor were never called by their real first name. Prince Harry himself does not explain it. “Everyone calls me Harry. I don’t understand“, he told the Mirror newspaper. The first name Harry was used throughout his life by the public and those around him. However, on special occasions, his full name is mentioned, as was the case during his marriage: “His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales and Mrs Meghan Markle are engaged“.
So how can we explain this change of first name? Henry, derived from the French first name Henri, has been known as Harry since the Middle Ages, as a sort of nickname. Moreover, most monarchs were called Harry instead of Henry, as with Henry VIII. Finally, during his military service, Prince Harry was also nicknamed “Captain Harry Wales” in reference to the Prince of Wales who is called Wales in English.
-What about Meghan Markle? Prince Henry’s wife goes by her middle name, Meghan. The Duchess of Sussex chose this name when she was an actress, and that’s how most people knew her. But in reality, her real name is Rachel Meghan Markle. This time, it was when Archie was born in 2019 that the birth certificate stated the full names of the young parents: “His Royal Highness Henry Charles Albert David Duke of Sussex” and “Rachel Meghan Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex”.
Five years after leaving London and the British royal family, the couple lives in Montecito, California, with their children Archie and Lilibeth.
