On January 30, The Sun published a report that Meghan Markle had her first name, "Rachel Meghan" edited out of her son's birth certificate to read, instead, "Her Royal Highness the
Duchess of Sussex."
A spokesperson for Meghan confirms that report is incorrect; Meghan did not request this name change.
"The change of name on public documents in 2019 was dictated by The Palace, as confirmed by documents from senior Palace officials," the spokesperson said. "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' 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."
In recent weeks, there have been reports that Meghan and Prince Harry have decided to quit social media for good because of the rumors and bullying that gets perpetuated on those platforms. In an interview with Fast Company earlier this month, Harry denied these rumors.
"We will revisit social media when it feels right for us—perhaps when we see more meaningful commitments to change or reform—but right now we've thrown much of our energy into learning about this space and how we can help," he said.
He added that "ironically, we woke up one morning a couple of weeks ago to hear that a Rupert Murdoch newspaper said we were evidently quitting social media. That was 'news' to us, bearing in mind we have no social media to quit, nor have we for the past 10 months. The truth is, despite its well-documented ills, social media can offer a means of connecting and community, which are vital to us as human beings. We need to hear each other's stories and be able to share our own. That's part of the beauty of life. And don't get me wrong; I’m not suggesting that a reform of the digital space will create a world that’s all rainbows and sunshine, because that’s not realistic, and that, too, isn't life. There can be disagreement, conversation, opposing points of view—as there should be, but never to the extent that violence is created, truth is mystified, and lives are jeopardized."