Meghan Markle and Harry have ‘opened Pandora’s box’ says expert

The former Suits star claimed Buckingham Palace “dictated” what was placed on her one-year-old’s birth certificate, after it emerged her name ‘Rachel Meghan’ had been removed from the record. Instead, she is described in the document as Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Sussex. The birth certificate was changed within a month of Archie being born in 2019, with some insiders previously claiming the alteration was a gesture to remember Harry’s mother Diana, whose preferred name was Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales.

But in a statement, a spokesman for Meghan argued the “change of name on the public documents was dictated by the Palace”, adding it was “offensive” to claim the ex-actress wanted to be “nameless” on her son’s birth certificate.

This row caused a furious backlash from those opposed to Meghan and Harry’s move to quit senior Royal Family duties last year in order to lead a “financially independent” life.

Critics argue the couple should relinquish all their titles, and in the aftermath of their exit from the Firm, calls for them to do so began.

Graham Smith, the chief executive officer of Republic – a group advocating the replacement of the monarchy, demanded the Sussexes sever all ties to the Royal Family.

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At the time, the Sussexes were under pressure to pay back the £2.4million ($3.29m) renovation work that had been carried out on their Frogmore Cottage home, a sum paid for by the taxpayer.

They would eventually reimburse the money, but Mr Smith detailed what the couple had done wrong in their controversial split from the royals.

Speaking on 2020’s Amazon Prime documentary Harry & Meghan: The Next Step, Mr Smith said: “If they want to live privately, then they have to renounce their titles, abandon all claims to public funding and go and do their own thing.

“Had they done that, I’d be standing here cheering them on, saying, ‘Well done’.

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“But they have not done that, they still want to cling on to the purse strings of the British taxpayer and they still want to have that status that we have given them.”

Royal author Katie Nicholl also questioned their decision, and how it could garner major question marks over the very future of the monarchy itself.

She added: “This has opened up a Pandora’s box, and there are so many more wider issues at stake.

“The future of the monarchy, the streamlining of the monarchy – that you keep hearing people talk about – what does that actually look like if Harry and Meghan do step down?”

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This latest row over Archie’s birth certificate will no doubt raise further questions regarding the couple’s relationship with the Firm.

It comes as Harry is expected to visit the UK for the first time since Megxit – the term coined to describe the couple’s royal exit.

According to the Daily Mail, it was “unlikely” Meghan would join Harry due to “personal and practical” reasons.

Since their landmark move, the couple have seen their popularity with the British public decline, paving the way for Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge to become the first and third most popular royals.

The YouGov poll showed Harry’s approval rating with the public made him the eighth most popular royal, while Meghan had sunk to 11th, behind the likes of Sophie, Countess of Wessex, Zara Phillips and Princess Anne.

And while they have become a hit with businesses in the US, recently signing major commercial deals with the likes of Spotify and Netflix, one expert claimed the American view of the couple is also beginning to wane.

Daniela Elser said the Sussexes had not been able to build a “positive” image as those closest to the couple speak too much about their “extravagant” riches, while the public continue its battle with the coronavirus pandemic.

Writing in the New Zealand Herald, she said that the US had seen “unemployment and food scarcity skyrocket”, and added: “Against this backdrop, their complaints of having to move between various mansions, three of which are in the $20million (£14.5m) price range, hardly qualifies as a hardship worthy of an outpouring of sympathy, especially when the concerned party has a spiffy, luxurious country house of their own back in Windsor.

“Just because they wanted out as frontline members of the Royal Family didn’t mean they had to beetle off to North America.”

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