Prince Harry Declines To Use Royal Surname In Official U.S. Paperwork

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have begun their non-royal life in the United States after stepping down from their roles within the Royal Family earlier this year. Though they're now quietly living abroad with their son Archie, quitting the Royal Family has some logistical complications that are only just being revealed. One of those complications is figuring out what Prince Harry's name will be.

If you've ever wondering what the royals use as a surname, you're not alone. The answer to that question is complicated, too. Queen Elizabeth and her descendants are part of the House of Windsor, though the direct line to the throne—Prince Charles, Prince William and his children, and previously Prince Harry—did not use Windsor as a surname, though some of Prince Charles' siblings and their descendants do. Growing up, Prince Harry and Prince William used their father's title—the Prince of Wales—as inspiration for the surname they used while in school and were known as Harry and William Wales. William's three children use his title of Duke of Cambridge the same way and are known in school as George, Charlotte and Louis Cambridge. They do no have surnames on their birth certificates, either.

Prince Harry's son, however, was given a surname when he was born, as he is much further down the line of succession. Archie's surname is Mountbatten-Windsor, which is the family moniker chosen by Queen Elizabeth for her direct descendants "on occasions when they needed a surname." Basically this means descendants of Her Majesty who won't be full-time working royals—as Harry and Meghan once were—are given this surname.

Now that Harry isn't a full-time working member of the Royal Family, many royal experts assumed he would take on the same surname as his son. Recently, however, the Duke of Sussex filed paperwork in the United States that show he has so far declined to use the surname for himself. In documents registering his new eco-friendly tourism firm Travalyst, he signed his name as Prince Henry Charles Albert David, Duke of Sussex, according to The Daily Mail. No surname in sight.

Previously, Prince Harry would have also included the His Royal Highness title while signing official documents. He's currently forbidden from using his HRH titles while not working on behalf of the Queen, though Her Majesty did not officially strip her grandson of his title.

Photo: Getty