Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have officially changed the name of their first organisation, the Sussex Royal Foundation, into the MWX Foundation, as previously reported by Express.co.uk. The real meaning behind this mysterious acronym has sparked speculation among royal fans and commentators. Some believe it may combine Meghan and Harry’s last names, making this organisation’s name the Markle Windsor Foundation.
Others, however, believe only Harry’s family name is being represented in this organisation’s acronym, making it the Mountbatten-Windsor Foundation.
Among them, there is royal expert Robert Jobson.
Taking to Twitter, Mr Jobson explained what use can the Duke of Sussex do of his family’s last name.
He said: “As Harry is a Prince and Duke of Sussex he doesn’t have to use it.
“Under a declaration made in Privy Council in 1960, the name
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry announced their intention to reshape their role as royals in January (Image: GETTY)
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have changed the name of their first foundation (Image: COMPANIES HOUSE)
Mountbatten-Windsor applies to male-line descendants of the Queen
without royal styles and titles.
“Individuals with royal styles do not usually use it.”
The expert added the Duke appears to be using his family name for commercial reasons.
He continued: “So ‘H’ has decided to use the Windsor Dynasty name for commercial use instead.
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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s son last name is Mountbatten-Windsor (Image: GETTY)
“I am sure that’s just was King George V had in mind for it when he changed the royal dynastic name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in 1917!”
King George V, the Queen’s grandfather, made the stunning move to change the royals’ family name from the Germanophile Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to House of Windsor in the midst of World War 1, as anti-German sentiment was growing very strong in the country.
Other families related to the royals but not directly descending from the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha also Anglified their surnames.
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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry never launched the Sussex Royal Foundation (Image: GETTY)
Prince Harry is the only director at the MWX Foundation (Image: COMPANIES HOUSE)
Among them, there was the Battenberg family, which eventually changed its name to Mountbatten.
Prince Philip adopted this surname from his mother’s family in 1947, the stepping stone to the creation of the Mountbatten-Windsor surname in 1960.
While the official name of the British Royal Family remains the House of Windsor, a declaration made in Privy Council during that year allowed all male-line descendants of the Queen without royal styles and titles, such as Archie Harrison, to acquire this last name.
But even members of the Royal Family with a title have made use of the Mountbatten-Windsor surname.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have stepped down as senior royals (Image: EXPRESS)
In 1973, Princess Anne used it in the official marriage registry, similarly to what Prince Andrew did 13 years later upon marrying Sarah Ferguson.
Prince William, second-in-line to the throne, used the Mountbatten-Windsor surname when he filed a lawsuit against a French magazine in 2012.
The name of Meghan and Harry’s first foundation was officially changed on the Companies House website on August 5.
While some commentators believe the Duke and Duchess of Sussex may be gearing up to launch a new project under the acronym MWX, other experts see it more likely the changed name is just part of the process of winding up the never-launched Sussex Foundation.
According to the Companies House website, the current status of this organisation is “liquidation”.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry now live in Montecito, Santa Barbara (Image: GETTY)
Out of the nine existing director, only Prince Harry is still at the helm of this initiative, while all the others, including the Duchess of Sussex, have resigned, the website shows.
Listing the potential reasons behind the change of the Sussex Royal Foundation name, financial expert Robert Leach told the MailOnline: “A name may be changed for any reason.
“The most commons reasons are because the existing name has become toxic, because it no longer represents what the company does, or because the name is not permitted.
“In this case, it is probably the latter.
“Many terms require permission from someone to be used in a company name. The word ‘royal’ is strictly guarded”.
Following their decision to step down as senior royals, Meghan and Harry agreed on stop using the word ‘royal’ in their future endeavour.
