Just Call Me Harry – Prince Harry

Prince Harry has revealed that he now wants to be known as “Harry”, weeks after he and his wife, Meghan Markle announced they will be taking a break from their positions as senior members of the royal family.

Ayesha Hazarika who recently hosted Harry’s sustainable travel initiative, Travalyst in Edinburgh, Scotland on Wednesday, gave this announcement as Prince Harry was introduced on stage.

Her words, “He’s made it clear that we are all just to call him Harry, so ladies and gentlemen please give a big, warm Scottish welcome to Harry.”

The British royalty who jumped on stage afterwards, hugged Ayesha before reading from prepared remarks about his travel initiative. This is the first of many appearances for Harry in the days to come.

Harry and his wife will give up on the use of the brand name Sussex Royal “given the specific UK government rules surrounding use of the word ‘Royal.’”

Prince Harry is married to former Hollywood actress, Meghan Markle.

Markle was raised in Los Angeles, California. During her studies at Northwestern University, she began playing small roles in television series and films. From 2011 to 2017, she played Rachel Zane on the American legal drama Suits. She is an outspoken feminist and has addressed issues of gender inequality, and her lifestyle website The Tig featured a column profiling influential women. She represented international charity organizations and received recognition for her fashion and style, releasing a line of clothing in 2016.

Markle was married to actor and producer Trevor Engelson from 2011 until their divorce in 2013. In 2017, she announced her engagement to Prince Harry, grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, and she moved to London. She retired from acting, closed her related social media accounts, and started undertaking public engagements as part of the British royal family. She became Duchess of Sussex upon her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018. They have a son, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor. In 2020, the couple announced their intention to step back as senior members of the royal family.

Markle is descended on her mother’s side from enslaved Africans, and on her father’s side from European settlers. She described her heritage in a 2015 essay for Elle magazine: “My dad is Caucasian and my mom is African American. I’m half black and half white …. While my mixed heritage may have created a grey area surrounding my self-identification, keeping me with a foot on both sides of the fence, I have come to embrace that. To say who I am, to share where I’m from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident mixed-race woman.”