When it comes to the court of public (and tabloid) opinion, it would appear that Meghan Markle just can’t catch a damn break.
The 39-year-old duchess has been besiged by Britain’s toxic tabloid culture from the moment she and Prince Harry first made their public debut as a couple back in 2016. The royal pair have been waist-deep in lawsuits with various “news” outlets for more than a year – becoming so adept at blocking publications from spewing rumours and conjecture that they could probably start their own law firm: Windsor & Markle.
Related: Meghan Markle and the struggle among Black women everywhere.
In the latest turn of events, a report from Britain’s The Sun claimed that Markle “secretly erased” her first names “Rachel Meghan” from son Archie‘s birth certificate, replacing it with “Her Highness the Duchess of Sussex.” The Sun said the action was done in malice: that Markle did it as a direct “snub” to Kate Middleton, who used her own name (as opposed to her royal title, the Duchess of Cambridge) on the birth certificates for Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. The tabloid also claimed Markle was “aligning” with Princess Diana, who used “Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales” on the birth certificates for sons William and Harry back in the 1980s.
The change to Archie’s birth certificate, for the record, was made on June 5, 2019, mere weeks after his May 6 birth. So, why is this coming up now? Perhaps the rags are running out of fresh Meghan material to twist around.
Related: Why Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have ditched the royal family.
A spokesperson for the California native has since spoken out, telling ET Canada: “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. To see this U.K. 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.”
Markle and Prince Harry, 36, exchanged vows at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor on May 19, 2018. They welcomed Archie one year later. In 2020, the couple announced their plans to step away from the Royal Family, completing the last of their royal duties that March. After a brief stay in Canada, the family of three moved permanently to California where they’ve since signed deals with Netflix and launched a podcast. In July, the duchess revealed that she’d suffered a miscarriage in the summer, writing a touching op-ed for The New York Times.
Unfortunately, there appears to be no respite from the press for the perpetually hounded couple. Not even a move across the pond can shield them from Britain’s tabloids. Many of the couple’s lawsuits are still in the court system.
