Buckingham Palace has rejected reports that Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet’s passports were “delayed” because of their royal titles.
On June 4, The Guardian reported that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had thought about changing their children’s surname, worried that King Charles “hadn’t wanted Archie and Lili to carry [their] titles.”
While Archie and Lilibet weren’t born princes or princesses, they gained those titles when their grandfather became king, as he is the monarch’s second son.
Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet passport claims
Regarding the passports of Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, recent reports link their situation to another royal story. It’s said that Prince Harry spoke with his uncle, Charles Spencer, about the possibility of the children using their grandmother’s maiden name, Spencer.
According to The Guardian, this idea came from “sheer exasperation” after repeated delays by British officials.
The Sussexes reportedly waited nearly six months for their kids’ passports. There were concerns the applications were being “blocked” because they included the title HRH (His/Her Royal Highness).
The applications apparently listed both the HRH title and the surname Sussex for Archie and Lilibet.
A source mentioned that King Charles didn’t want his grandchildren to have titles, especially not HRH. They added that “the British passports, once created, would be the first and perhaps the only legal proof of their names.”
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‘A string of excuses’
The insider, who is reportedly close to the Sussex family, revealed that Prince Harry faced repeated delays for five months when trying to get British passports for his children with their updated Sussex surnames following Queen Elizabeth II’s passing. These delays came with what was described as “a string of excuses.”
Growing frustrated, Prince Harry reportedly turned to his uncle and asked, “My family are supposed to have the same name and they’re stopping that from happening because the kids are legally HRH, so if push comes to shove, if this blows up and they won’t let the kids be called Sussex, then can we use Spencer as a surname?”
Why were the passports ‘delayed’?
Normally, passport applications take about three weeks to process. But according to The Guardian, the Sussexes had to reapply after a three-month delay caused by what was called “technical issues.”
It’s reported that Prince Harry and Meghan then paid for a 24-hour service to get passports for Archie and Lilibet. Still, a scheduled meeting was cancelled at the last moment because of a “systems failure.”
Following this, a letter supposedly mentioning a data subject access request was sent to find out more about the delays.
Buckingham Palace, however, denied that King Charles or his staff had anything to do with the delays. When The Telegraph asked, a palace spokesperson simply replied, “No.”