The Duke and Duchess of Sussex had difficulty naming their son

19 April 2022

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex had difficulty naming their son.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex almost called their son Harrison

The royal couple almost gave their oldest child - their two-year-old son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor - his middle name Harrison as his first name, according to a participant in the Invictus Games and her wife, who had “a chat” with the royal couple about their son with the same name while at the event for wounded army veterans in The Hague.

Sherry McBain, a RAF nursing officer told the Press Association that her wife Mandy said that the 40-year-old actress “was like 'Harrison, that's Archie's middle name', and Mandy was like 'Yeah, I know. They were just having a chat because Harry and Meghan couldn't decide between Archie and Harrison for the first name."

The couple welcomed their first child in May 2019 - nearly a year after they tied the knot in Windsor - and their choice of name surprised the bookies, who listed more traditional names such as Arthur, James, Phillip and Albert as the likely choices. Harrison is a name that comes from the Middle Ages and means “son or Henry” or “son of Harry”.

The couple - who also have 10-month-old daughter Lilibet, comes from the 37-year-old royal’s grandmother Queen Elizabeth II’s nickname, - shared that their future charitable foundation gave “inspiration” for their son’s name.

Of the name, they said: "Before SussexRoyal came the idea of 'arche' — the Greek word meaning 'source of action. We connected to this concept for the charitable organization we hoped to build one day, and it became the inspiration for our son's name. To do something of meaning, to do something that matters. Archewell is a name that combines an ancient word for strength and action, and another that evokes the deep resources we each must draw upon.”

Sherry recalled that Meghan- who moved with her husband to California after leaving senior royal duties in the UK behind following a series of allegations of racism and poor pastoral care for Meghan’s mental well-being - were “really open” and “friendly”.

She added: "Harrison was drawing pictures and telling her that it was a picture of a tram. I don't think it quite looked like a tram, so she was very gracious and said that's a brilliant tram, so he was delighted.