Once upon a time, the most newsworthy thing about 1½-year-old Archie Harrison's birth certificate was that his mom's real first name is Rachel. Now it's making headlines again for how her name has disappeared altogether.
Over the weekend, The Sun divulged that Archie Harrison's birth certificate was changed a few weeks after his May 6, 2019, birth. In June, changes were made to how Meghan Markle is listed on the birth certificate. Originally, she was listed as "Rachel Meghan Her Royal Highness Duchess of Sussex." After the change, she was listed as "Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Sussex."
While The Sun framed it as something Harry and Meghan did with an agenda, the couple has been quick to correct that narrative. They revealed that the changes were made at the direction of the palace, leading many to ask why The Firm allows Kate Middleton to have her name on her children's birth certificates but not Meghan.
A story that was likely put out with the goal of digging at Meghan Markle has come around in the duchess's favor. Over the weekend, The Sun reported that it uncovered changes made to Archie Harrison's birth certificate a few weeks after the little boy was born. It involved how Meghan was listed on the document.
Originally, Meghan was listed on the birth certificate as "Rachel Meghan Her Royal Highness Duchess of Sussex." Changes made to the birth certificate in June 2019 edited it so that Archie's mother is listed as "Her Royal Highness Duchess Of Sussex." The Sun believed the changes were made by Meghan and Harry.
"'Rachel Meghan' was taken out to leave just 'Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Sussex,'" the outlet originally reported.
"The unprecedented move could be seen as a snub to the Cambridges who have included Kate's names on her children's certificates. It may also be viewed as Harry aligning his wife with mum Di, who always used 'Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales.'"
Omid Scobie, one of the authors of Finding Freedom, followed up the controversy on Sunday with a statement shared with him by Harry and Meghan's team.
"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," the spokesperson said.
"To see this UK tabloid and their carnival of so-called 'experts' chose 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."
Ouch. So not only was this not an intentional dig meticulously calculated by Meghan and Harry, but it was actually the palace's doing. And since Kate Middleton was brought in for comparison originally, the revelation left a question in its wake. Why can Catherine Elizabeth Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge's name remain on her kids' birth certificates, but Meghan's name was given the shaft?
Many can't help but see this as one of many microaggressions Meghan had to deal with during her time as a senior royal. Palace policies seem to be very inconsistent among family members, and while they often point to rank as the reason behind these inconsistencies, race seems to be more of a factor than anyone's willing to admit.
Buckingham Palace hasn't commented on the matter, and when it comes to Meghan they usually don't. In a case of unfortunate timing for the Windsors, the statement came out shortly after the palace released a statement penned by Prince William condemning racism … in soccer.
"Racist abuse – whether on the pitch, in the stands, or on social media – is despicable and it must stop now," the statement begins.
"We all have a responsibility to create an environment where such abuse is not tolerated, and those who choose to spread hate and division are held accountable for their actions. That responsibility extends to the platforms where so much of this activity now takes place."
"I commend all those players, supporters, clubs and organisations who continue to call out and condemn this abuse in the strongest terms. – W," the statement concluded.
A lot of people were floored by how deeply unaware the statement comes across when William, his family, and the whole institution around The Firm has been silent, if not dismissive, of the racism Meghan has faced.
Mind you, this isn't the first time the Duke of Cambridge has opened up about racism. But apparently, racism is only bothersome enough to speak publicly on when it's happening to professional soccer players.
"People are now talking a little bit about mental health issues but I imagine talking about racism is still quite a difficult subject, especially when it's happening in such a public fashion with Premier League matches or [in the] Champions League. We've got to do something about it. I'm fed up with it. I'm so bored of it," William said back in 2019, according to The Guardian.
"Hello from the USA! This threw me completely off guard as I never heard this strong stance against racism when it came to the Duchess of Sussex. Wow," one person tweeted in response to the Duke of Cambridge's most recent statement.
"I guess folks can see why your brother & sister-in-law felt compelled to leave. You didn't seem to care when they were experiencing abuse. This is embarrassing behavior. I'm so glad that they removed themselves from you," another tweeted.
