Apparently, Meghan Markle’s Name Isn’t On Archie’s Birth Certificate

Have you seen the reports that Meghan Markle’s name was removed from her son’s birth certificate? Well, it’s real — and people want to know why. But why was Meghan’s name taken off of Archie’s birth certificate, and is it anything drama-worthy? Here’s what we know.

It’s True — Meghan’s Name Really Isn’t on Archie’s Birth Certificate

The Sun reported that Archie’s birth certificate initially referred to Meghan Markle as “Rachel Meghan Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex” but a few weeks later, “Rachel Meghan” was removed, leaving just the title “Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex.” So, it is true that Meghan’s given name isn’t on the birth certificate of her son. But does that mean anything?

The discovery of this change naturally sparked plenty of rumors — that the name removal was a snub against her, that it shows how little agency she had in the Royal Palace, and that it was pointed because Kate Middleton’s name is on the birth certificate of her children, or that Meghan wanted her name removed to not have anything to do with the palace (which would be weird, because it’s her son’s birth certificate, but rumors gonna rumor). But whether these rumors have any truth to them, we’ll probably never know.

…Because Meghan Markle Doesn’t Really Want to Rehash It

Meghan Markle is, for her part, attempting to shut down speculation that there is beef between her and the Royal Family after it was discovered that her name had been removed from her son Archie’s birth certificate back in 2019.

An official statement from a spokeswoman for Markle says that the name removal (and the rumors surrounding it) are wild conjecture and much ado about nothing. The change is not representative of any larger issues. In fact, the statement said the change wasn’t dictated by Markle at all.

“The change of name on public documents in 2019 was dictated by The Palace, as confirmed by documents from senior Palace officials,” the statement reads. “This was not requested by Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex nor by The Duke of Sussex. To see this U.K. tabloid and their carnival of so-called ‘experts’…whip this into a calculated family ‘snub’ and suggest that she would oddly want to be nameless on her child’s birth certificate…would be laughable were it not offensive.”

But It Could Be A Snub From The Family, Not Her

The statement concludes by calling the Sun’s reporting “clickbait” while noting that there are bigger issues to be focusing on (a pandemic, for example) than baselessly speculating about a minor change to a birth certificate from nearly two years ago.

Given the complicated nature between Markle, Harry, and the Royal Family, it is certainly possible that there is more to this story. As suggested above, and by some rumors, the Palace may have had their own nefarious reasons for making the change, including snubbing Markle herself. But with no actual evidence of that, and with Markle’s insistence that this is a nonstory, it would be disingenuous to dream up a family feud that nobody involved is acknowledging actually exists. However, it’s important to note that the dismissal of rumors, however true they may be, tends to be the royal family way. So, if there’s anything going on here, we likely won’t ever know regardless.