Meghan Markle's 'unfortunately worded' statement 'caused bewilderment at Palace'

The wording of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's statement explaining the decision to change their names on Archie's birth certificate has been described as "unfortunate" by a Palace aide.

The message came following reports that the couple removed 'Rachel Meghan', the Duchess' first and middle names, from the legal document a month after he was born, using the more formal 'Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Sussex' instead.

The couple claimed the change was "dictated by the Palace", adding that reports it was a "snub" to other members of the royal family "would be laughable were it not offensive".

The firmly worded message has caused "bewilderment" among palace staff.

An aide told The Mirror: "There is no set protocol with these things. The birth certificate is a civic document so there are options on how it is filled out.

"The language used suggesting it was 'the Palace' who 'dictated' it is somewhat unfortunate, as it certainly wasn't addressed like that.

"The statement and its wording poses more questions than it answers unfortunately."

Meghan and Harry's statement, which was released to The Independent on Sunday, read: “The change of name on public documents in 2019 was dictated by The Palace, as confirmed by documents from senior Palace officials. This was not requested by Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex nor by The Duke of Sussex.

They added that the outlet’s claim of a potential “snub” would be “laughable were it not offensive”.

“To see this UK tabloid and their carnival of so-called ‘experts’ choose to deceptively whip this into a calculated family ‘snub’ and suggest that she would oddly want to be nameless on her child’s birth certificate, or any other legal document, would be laughable were it not offensive.

“There’s a lot going on in the world; let’s focus on that rather than creating clickbait.”

However, another source has told The Mirror that the change did actually come from the Sussex staff, not the Palace.

Royal editor Russell Myers explains: "One royal source revealed to me that Meghan ordered her staff to make the change to Archie's birth certificate in order to "to fall in line with amendments she'd already made to her passport".

"The amendment was made by Meghan and Harry's personal team when they had their own staff based at Kensington Palace, who in turn reported to Buckingham Palace, so the sharp rebuke of "the Palace" makes even less sense. 

"In short, Meghan already stylised herself as 'HRH The Duchess of Sussex', dropping her given names - and wanted some form of continuity."