Harry and Meghan 'feared children's passports were being held up by King'

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle reportedly became exasperated as they struggled to get British passports for their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet and believed their royal titles had something to do with the delay

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle feared passports for their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet were being held up due to the use of their royal titles, it has been claimed. The couple are said to have been left exasperated as they waited months for British passports to arrive and reportedly believed it was due to the fact they included their children's royal titles on the application.

Archie and Lilibet got prince and princess titles when their grandfather King Charles became monarch in 2022. The first time their titles were formally announced was after Lilibet's christening in March 2023. Due to the reported hold-up, it is said that Harry started to explore the possibility of changing his family surname to Spencer in a nod to his late mother, Princess Diana.

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A source close to Harry and Meghan reportedly told the Guardian: "The King hadn't wanted Archie and Lili to carry the titles, most of all the HRH, and the British passports, once created, would be the first and perhaps the only legal proof of their names."

However, Buckingham Palace has strongly denied that the King or any of his aides had anything to do with the delays in issuing the passports.

Eventually, the passports were issued but the insider added: "Harry was at a point where British passports for his children with their updated Sussex surnames (since the death of Queen Elizabeth II) were being blocked with a string of excuses over the course of five months.

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"Out of sheer exasperation, he went to his uncle to effectively say: '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?'."

They also claimed that the Sussexes want their children to retain their titles and HRH styles so they can choose to become working royals if they so wish when they are adults.

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A spokesperson for the Sussexes said they do not comment on private issues about the couple's children. The Home Office declined to comment. Archie and Lilibet are eligible for both US and UK passports as dad Harry is a UK citizen while mum Meghan is an American citizen.

There has been continued controversy over the Sussexes' HRH titles since the pair quit their royal roles five years ago. As part of their Megxit negotiations with the Palace, Meghan and the Duke of Sussex agreed to stop using “Her Royal Highness” and “His Royal Highness” at the end of March 2020.

They still retain the styles, with Harry having had his since birth, but they are essentially held in abeyance.

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However, earlier this year, it emerged Meghan had used her HRH style on a gift basket sent to make-up entrepreneur Jamie Kern Lima last year, with a monogrammed card reading: “With Compliments of HRH The Duchess of Sussex”.

Kern Lima showed an image of the present in footage of her podcast interview with Meghan. It contained a jar of Meghan’s jam which she has started selling as part of her As Ever lifestyle business brand.

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A source described the basket as a “personal gift”. The duchess’s representatives denied that the couple used them, but a source later said that the Sussexes did not use HRH publicly but retained the style, and did not use it for commercial purposes.

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