Something we’ve learned over the years is that Prince Harry has always maintained good relations with his mother’s family. He’s close to his aunts (Diana’s sisters Jane and Sarah), he’s close to the Earl Spencer (Diana’s brother Charles) and he’s close to many of his Spencer cousins. If you ask me, it looks like Harry always maintained closer relations with the Spencers than Prince William ever has. Charles Spencer and Harry’s aunts all attended last year’s Invictus service in London, and I believe the theory that Charles Spencer has visited the Sussexes in Montecito at least once (possibly more). I also think Harry is more of a Spencer – he famously has the “Spencer temperament” and he’s the most like Diana. So is it a surprise that at one point, Harry considered changing his surname to Spencer?
Prince Harry sought advice from Princess Diana’s brother about changing his family name to Spencer, The Mail on Sunday has learned. Sources said the Duke of Sussex actively explored ways to assume his mother’s surname – a move that would have involved ditching Mountbatten-Windsor, used by his children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
It is understood he discussed the issue with Earl Spencer – whose family seat is Althorp in Northamptonshire – during a rare visit to Britain, but was told that the legal hurdles were insurmountable.
‘They had a very amicable conversation and Spencer advised him against taking such a step,’ said a friend of Harry. Nevertheless, the fact that he consulted the Earl over the issue – a proposal that would dismay his brother and father – is a vivid expression of the toxic rift with his family.
Mountbatten-Windsor is the surname available to descendants of the late Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. It combines the Royal Family’s name of Windsor and the Duke of Edinburgh’s adopted surname. On their birth certificates, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s children are Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor and Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.
Royal author Tom Bower has claimed that ‘Meghan decided her real object in life was to be Diana’. If the name change had succeeded, Meghan’s daughter, who is believed to have met the King only once, would have become Lilibet Diana Spencer, a more fulsome tribute to Harry’s late mother.
The move would be particularly hurtful to King Charles, who cherishes the Mountbatten name just as his father did. A mentor to Prince Philip, the 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma was also a strong influence on his great-nephew, the future King Charles.
Fun fact, QEII only changed the family surname to Mountbatten-Windsor because Prince Philip kept insisting and arguing with her about it. It was important to Philip – less so to Charles, although he was close to Lord Mountbatten, whom he considered a surrogate father and mentor. As for Harry talking to the Earl Spencer about it… I actually believe that Harry probably did ask his uncle’s opinion, just as I believe that Harry was open to changing his surname completely. You also have to understand, Charles purposely kept the Sussexes in limbo after he became king – he originally intended to change the George V letters patent to remove the titles of Harry, Meghan and their children. Charles ended up not doing that and so that’s why H&M still have their Sussex title AND their HRHs. I think at some point (circa 2023), Harry and Meghan were just like, “f–k it, Sussex is our surname now.”
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- FILE PHOTOS: As the 20th Anniversary of the death of Princess Diana approaches (31st August 2017), Cover Images take a look at these re-digitized images from the archives of celebrated British Photographer, Mauro Carraro. Approximate date of images is shown in caption below. August 1987 Princess Diana with Prince Harry on holiday with teh Spanish Royal family in Majorca,Image: 347670758, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: ***Not Available for Subscription Clients***Editorial Use Only. No stock, books, advertising or merchandising without photographer's permission***, Model Release: no
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- WINDSOR, ENGLAND – MAY 19: Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer and Karen Spencer arrive at the wedding of Prince Harry to Ms Meghan Markle at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018 in Windsor, England.,Image: 515240626, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR SEVEN DAYS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon
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- Earl Spencer at the unveiling of a statue of his sister, Diana, Princess of Wales, in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, London, on what would have been her 60th birthday. Picture date: Thursday July 1, 2021. .,Image: 619024591, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Earl Spencer is greeted by his nephews the Duke of Cambridge (right) and Duke of Sussex (left) as he arrives for unveiling of a statue they commissioned of their mother Diana, Princess of Wales, in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, London, on what would have been her 60th birthday. Picture date: Thursday July 1, 2021. .,Image: 619024740, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- The Duke of Sussex with his uncle Earl Spencer, at the unveiling of a statue of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales, in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, London, on what would have been her 60th birthday.,Image: 619146847, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Dominic Lipinski / Avalon
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- 09-03-2020 Commonwealth Day Celebrations Westminster Abbey 2020
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- Guests arrive to attend a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London Featuring: Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer Where: London, United Kingdom When: 08 May 2024 Credit: Cover Images
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- Guests arrive to attend a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London Featuring: Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer Where: London, United Kingdom When: 08 May 2024 Credit: Cover Images
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- Guests arrive to attend a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: London, United Kingdom When: 08 May 2024 Credit: Cover Images
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- 09-03-2020 Commonwealth Day Celebrations Westminster Abbey 2020
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- The Duke and duchess of Sussex arrive at Westminster abbey for the commonwealth day ceremony.
It’s a good thing that Charles didn’t change the Letters patent, it would only have made him look spiteful and racist.
He would have if H&M were still in UK, because then his aides would say to the media that it was H&M’s decision and H&M couldn’t say anything to refute it because they would still be under Charles’s thump in terms of security and money. I remember when Archie was born, there were already a couple articles talking about H&M not wanting titles for their baby and wanting to raise him as a normal person. Meghan said, that was Charles’s decision and she was also told Archie won’t be giving security, since he won’t be titled. If there was no Oprah interview, I am pretty sure that Charles would go on with his original plan.
I agree with you sevenblue
This is what I’ve believed all along too. They palace leaked the story that H&M didnt want titles as a way of excusing them not being given titles from Charles etc who were already having conversations and worried about the child would look like. I think another thing is that everyone EXPECTED the marriage to end eventually and she would be gone and Harry would be free to marry again and any children from an English rose would absolutely get titles. They assumed they would only need to wait it out.
Heck articles aside, I think some of us on here were saying that! I know I said it – that if changes werent made to make archie a prince at birth (since we knew it would happen sooner rather than later) than it was because it was H&M’s choice and they didn’t want him to ever be known as a prince.
The interview proved me wrong and I’m glad they got their side out there, because otherwise charles would have issued new Letters patent as soon as possible and we would have assumed it was what H&M wanted.
I’m not sure if I believe this story, but if Harry did decide that they was just go by his mother’s maiden name ( which plenty of people do), I’m not sure how Meghan wanting Lili to be the next Diana Spencer came into play. Although Tom Bower is a horrible racist misogynist and seems to think that Meghan is the original Pandora.
It’s pretty rich too, for one person who’s been described in the media is being unable to trust their child, and that’s why they can’t speak to them see them or provide them security, and the other as absolutely despising and hating their sibling’s effing guts, and it’s going to strip them of their titles and ban them from the country as soon as he’s King, to be written about as being SO hurt by thought of not sharing a name with him any longer.
For whatever reason Harry’s closeness to the Spencer’s seems to really get under Charles and William skin, it seems to really upset the British media too. Like if they don’t use that name and use the older aristocratic name they can’t try to control them.
I’m not able to believe this either, because who would have leaked this? Nobody. I don’t believe Harry and Meghan would have wanted their daughter’s name to be Diana Spencer, either. This sounds like something Mad King Bill would put out there just to stir up hateful comments on the internet.
I agree. The last thing Harry wants is to put a target on his daughters back by giving her that name. She will already have one but can you imagine how much more she would be hounded by the press once she is a young adult.
Very true though that Harry’s connection to the Spencers and the fact that the Spencers have publicly supported Harry bothers Charles. Bc it highlights what he doesn’t do as a father. As for William, is he jealous of Harry’s closeness to that side of the family bc he lacks that closeness? If he’s not close, then why not? Or why not try? He’s in the Uk.
I don’t really believe it either, it is just the DM wanting clicks to sell advertising space. BTW is it only a short while ago that Meghan wanted to be known as Sussex the same as her children.
I’m skeptical about this. However, I can certainly see value in getting rid of the name Mountbatten. He was a horrible pedophile.
You’re quite right @Brassy Rebel. Mountbatten was a known paedophile, and nobody ever seemed to be bothered by that, nor was he ever called to account for it. The fact that Charles was encouraged to spend time with him, and treated him like a beloved uncle/mentor/surrogate father, is grossly problematic, to say the least. These peoples’ moral compasses were skewed generations ago, and the accepted dysfunction ensuing has long had its corrosive effect on the so called British upper classes.
The surname has nothing to do with him though. It was the anglicization of Philip’s mother Alice’s maiden name Battenberg. His grandfather Prince Louis Battenberg was First Sea Lord and a well liked and well respected man and naval officer. Earl Mountbatten is just another person who had it.
I dont know if I believe this story either, but I agree with you that Harry’s closeness with the Spencers drives the royal family insane. Maybe because it just furthers the common belief that Harry is “Diana’s son” and takes after her in a way that William doesn’t, maybe bc it keeps diana’s connection to the royal family visible and alive and Charles has spent almost 30 years trying to wipe out that connection (impressive considering she was the mother of the next king). maybe bc its so clear that the Spencers LIKE harry, its not just about Diana.
i dont know, but its something.
I don’t believe this story either. What a load of nonsense.
THIS IS SUCH A non-story. Harry has never had a surname. He has only ever had a title on his birth certificate. Do we mean he wanted to change the children’s surname?
This is a recycled story from 2023 with Tom Bower nonsense.
Since this is from Bower, meh. Did Charles Spencer or someplace close to him mention this to Bower? Or it’s made up. And did no one ever call Phillip a diva for adding mountabatten to the name for himself? Could Kate add Middleton, lol? Or is it just because Phillip was a male that he got to do that?
I don’t believe a,word of this dm story
Probably because He was a man.
Phillip was obsessed with getting the name Mountbatten added to Windsor. And his Uncle Louis, the pedo, was right there with him. They argued that Phillip was the only man in Britain whose children did not carry his name. Sexism was off the charts in the fifties.
We never discuss how insane it is that Will and Kate named their kid after the family pedophile. Even though the RF has managed to protect Mountbatten by suppressing the journals, the “rumour” is well established, and yet…
Yikes, that’s so true, Nikki (Toronto): What the hell were they thinking???
Louis Mountbatten wasn’t the only family pedophile. At least they didn’t name their kid Andrew. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It wasn’t sexism on Philip’s part. It was literally the only thing of his own he could bring to his family. And it wasn’t even entirely his. It was his mother’s even though Alice married before Battenberg became Mountbatten. He couldn’t give his actual surname, his country (he had to be naturalized), his religion (Greek orthodoxy) plus he gave up his naval career and thus his own income. I don’t think wanting something separate from the Windsors is such a stretch.
And Alice was a remarkable woman. It honors her and her father, another impressive individual, not Earl Mountbatten. The Earl drove Philip a bit nuts with his fame whoring and Philip remarked more than once that his uncle had limited involvement in his upbringing. He was closer to his uncle George, George’s wife Nada and Nada’s sister Zia Wernher who was a surrogate aunt. The Wernher children were very close to Philip and Elizabeth. Alex Wernher was Philip’s best friend and he really looked up to him. He was KIA in WW2.
A friend of Harry wouldn’t talk to DM. If this conversation happened, it was between Harry & Charles Spencer, both wouldn’t leak this info to people talking to tabloids. It is probably slow news day.
Exactly! It’s a load of nonsense in a rather slow period for the rota as the Wales are on their 5th(?) vacations…even if it did happen, I doubt Harry, his uncle or his friend would leak it to the press… Harry is well aware of his position in the royal family and he made sure that his children would have part of the royal legacy by “imposing”on Charles their titles : prince Archie and Princess Lilibet..and he wouldn’t want to cause any grief to his grandmother…so, I seriously doubt the whole idea..
All I got out of this is that Harry is able to maintain warm relationships with family members who aren’t awful.
Bower can’t help himself pretending he knows what Meghan thinks. I thought keen wanted to be like diaba
Edit Diana
He didn’t take the titles because he can’t. The way this keeps being trotted out as if it’s a power he has. He can fuck with the HRHs but *only* an act of Parliament can remove the Sussex titles and they won’t because it calls into question EVERY UK title in existence. The existence of the aristocracy depends on the belief that these titles actually mean something. It’s the root of British classism.
This story is made up spin & something that has come from sm comments about Harry & the Spencers. I doubt it would have even had been a thing if the WLM ep had never come up & Meghan said they were using Sussex as a surname plus the Spencers turning up for Harry’s invictus anniversary.
Reporting from when H&M announced the kids were Prince& Princess was that Charles had agreed there wouldn’t be change to remove those titles from the kids at the time of the queens funeral so they would have formally known they could use Sussex surname in September 2022.
And the part about insurmountable legal hurdles is nonsense as if theres consent from both parents you can easily change kids surnames in the uk.
This is just a way to keep pushing family rift stuff & idea that Harry is hurting his poor helpless Windsor family.
I agree the part about the legal hurdles is ridiculous. In the UK it is super easy to change your name. It’s just a case of signing a form (I know people who have done it). It is also easy to change children’s names if you have permission from their legal guardians. What hurdles could there possibly be? Harry and Meghan are private citizens they can call themselves what they like.
The reporting lied. Charles had not “agreed” to anything. He had no choice in the matter. Charles’ (and William’s) minions also briefed how incandescent they were that H+M had made the “breathtaking” decision to “take” the titles and how they had forced Charles into publicly taking a stand – hence the rapid updating of the royal website with the children’s proper titles after over 6 months of dawdling. Charles was just too much of a coward to own his original intentions and had to sit back and lump it – or risk being labelled internationally as a bigger racist than he already was. The “Charles agreed” reporting was a face-saving backtracking exercise once the royal rota rats realised how BAD it looked that BP had taken six whole months (or was it 8?) to update the website, when the children’s new titles became theirs the minute the Queen died. Especially when you realise that the Waleses had updated theirs within minutes of the death being announced! It also gave the rota an “excuse” for not reporting correctly about the letters patent, and pretending that Charles had to “grant” the kids the titles in the first place.
You are correct that the “insurmountable legal hurdles” thing is nonsense. The whole thing is just clickbait from a starving tabloid.
I am not so sure. Even if this is true I am wondering when this discussion between Harry and his uncle Charles took place. If there was a discussion I believe it probably took place at the height of the speculation about Charles, Harry’s father, removing their titles with this the name Sussex.I do not believe that there were any recent discussions about changing their name. It would not make any sense as they are known as the Sussexes. Why are they reporting this now especially after numerous pieces in the newspapers about Willi, how hard he works and the changes he will make when finally King? This takes the thunder away from Willi. He must be incandescent with rage being overshadowed again. So why now? What is the message?
By the way the Windsors have changed their names a few times. In 1917 the BRF changed their name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor to distance themselves from their German roots. And Prince Philip’s original family name was Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (a mouthful I have to admit). In 1947 when Philip became British citizen and married Princess Elizabeth he changed his name to Mounbatton, the anglicised version of his mother’s name Battenberg, again a German name.
I think Sussex and Spencer are preferable over the original Germanic Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg-Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
I’m sure I believe this story. It doesn’t make sense to me. But I guess the British press are desperate for rage bait after the BBC interview stole their thunder. If it’s true Harry has to get some better friends because they all seem to talk to the British press.
I don’t believe this story. Who would leak this to Tom, and what is so insurmountable about changing one’s surname? Making up stories to get ahead of a narrative. Since the wedding they have been imagining scenarios where Meghan could wear Diana’s tiara. It is their nightmare they constantly dream.
Exactly, as a private citizen he could change his surname legally tomorrow. It’s an easy process. There is nothing insurmountable about it.
It’s the voices in Tom’s head again.
Per Meghan, they all share the last name of Sussex not Mountbatten-Windsor.
I doubt they worried about this issue while they were in the UK or Canada. H&M discussed it obviously, and decided on Sussex. They MAY have called Charles up to talk about it, but I doubt it. If Chuck likes Mountbatten so much let him take it on.
When will these pigs (apology to pigs) stop making up shit about, and leave the Sussexes alone?
Yeah, I ‘m sure Meghan called up sower faced bowels to let him know that she had this goal of becoming the next Diana. This creature has never been anywhere near Meghan, much less spoken to her. So how does he know what she’s thinking.?
In addition, which of these rats was in the room when this supposed name change conversation took place? that they knew it was an amicable discussion. We know neither Harry nor Earl Spencer would have talked to anyone about it.
This is so exhausting, this continual made up nonsense about the Sussexes.
There’s only one daughter in law of Diana who wishes she was like her and people loved her like they loved Diana and that’s definitely not Meghan who has her own life and accomplishments. Kate is the one who constantly dresses like Diana (remember the Navy dress recently?), dresses her children like Diana’s children and “pays different kinds of tribute “to her by wearing jewellery, tiaras etc….the press always makes such comments for her..they rarely do it for Meghan because she’s her own woman…
They need several lawsuits against them and an Act of Parliament.
Will they ever let the Sussex live in peace? Charles, William and BM are destroying 🇬🇧, They keep spitting in the wind and it continues to come back. I doubt that families popularity is more in the toilet. Where the hell are their PR team. They’re so immature and stupid. I never saw this type of behavior coming. Poor Edward, Margaret and Diana. These people actually used the Cast System on their family members. George, Louis and Edward’s son will have hell finding wives. Every parent should bolt their doors and hide their daughters. You’re not allowed to create your own life. They can’t persuade their passions. They have to stay in their station. All the crowns, jewels isn’t worth it
“Royal author Tom Bower has claimed that ‘Meghan decided her real object in life was to be Diana’”
This is how you know this story is made up.
Judging from that family’s history the Sussexes wanted to guard against being in a similar position of vulnerability Diana was placed in after the divorce. Meghan being ennobled Ada Mazi in Nigeria is a potent antidote to potential f*ckery from CIII or William against the Sussex title/family, that’s a title of her own that isn’t dependent on Harry or the BRF.
What sane women want to be Diana? A woman, who in her unfortunately short life, had a cheating husband treated her shabbily, never had a man loved her unconditionally, hunted by paparazzi, tormented by the mistress of her husband & RR, friends who couldn’t really help her, and fickle UK fans?
No me. I can be inspired by Diana doing humanitarian work, but not the lonely woman Diana was in her later life. Women should aspire to be herself, the unique person she wants to be.
And, I don’t believe this story.
Or he doesn’t want the same his wife and children to have the same surname as his uncle and great-uncle
https://www.thejournal.ie/new-book-lord-mountbatten-kincora-sexual-abuse-6706653-May2025/
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-63319930
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kincora_Boys%27_Home
The whole article is BS. I don’t think at anytime Harry was considering changing his name to Spencer I DO think there were discussions about a unified surname once he had kids. Betty compromised with Philip and said their kids had to be Windsors but all their descendants starting from grandkids (excluding the direct heirs) would have his name and be Mountbatten-Windsors. So at one point Archie and Lili’s last names were Mountbatten-Windsor and Harry and Meghan’s last names were Sussex which is weird and unnecessarily complicated especially if your traveling with kids. They changed their kids last names to Sussex and announced that their family surname would now be Sussex on their website 1-2 yrs ago. I guess now we are finding out the salty left behinds didn’t like something as mundane as a Harry’s family having the same surname.
I always thought “Spencer” for a first or middle name of one of the kids would have been perfect. Works for boys or girls.
W&K’s kids obviously needed to have the same recycled names as all the royals before them, but Louis would have been very cute as a Spencer. And Lili is perfect, but “Spencer Sussex” is SO cute.
I love Mary Spencer for a girl or just Spencer for a boy. I’m surprised they didn’t go either route.
Mere peasant here and I do not understand clearly but i was born with a last name like all peasants
Harry was not born with a last name but their family name is mountbatten windsor.
I understand the york princesses have used york as a last name before but i just assumed that was more for anonymity sake or some other reason since their birth certificate does not say york. They too are mountbatten windsors
So how can you just change it?
If i, the peasant, wanted to change my last name then i would have to file lots of court documents to achieve this.
Megan married a man with no last name so id assume they both had to do something…
Do their passports say sussex? Do the kids birth certificates say sussex? or is this something like a pr name and their actual name is mountbatten windsor?
When W&H were grandchildren of the monarch they used Wales as their last name.
A&L were born as great-grandchildren of the monarch so they were named at birth Mountbatten-Windsor.
Once QEII died, A&L became grandchildren of the monarch, prince and princess. William became POW and now his children are Wales, no longer using Cambridge. Like the Wessexes, Sussex is the surname H’s family goes by.
Mountbatten Windsor is the name for royals without prince or princess styling. Once Archie and Lili became prince and princess they became Sussex on the royal website. It is extremely easy for a normal person to change their name. I know people who have done it through a lawyer. They signed one form and it was changed legally in a matter of weeks. You do not have to fill in lots of court documents and if you do it through a lawyer it is very simple.
I’m not sure I believe this. Maybe in the context of titles being stripped but also it’s something both fans and haters have been floating around the internet for years that they should take the Spencer name, obviously for very different reasons. However they’re going by Sussex, they have never spoken on it. Meghan said in her show she’s now Sussex and that caused a brouhaha. Frankly it’s not our business what options they were mulling because it’s just weird how the British aristocracy have fluid last names based on titles or change of titles. Whatever.
I don’t believe the article. I thing the leftovers are throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks. The best thing that Harry and Meghan have done is to shine the light on everything that happened while they were royals with the Oprah interview and Spare. Also taking control of the narrative with their social media and continuing their philanthropy, has put a wrench in the royal works. Meghan and Harry are more like his mother and the leftovers hate it. They genuinely care about their project which drastically contrast to the leftovers. I believe the article was intended drum up anger against Meghan and Harry but it’s falling flat.
No, I don’t believe this story. Not at all from this guy. I don’t believe it because Prince Harry is never the kind of person who deliberately sets out to hurt. What he did was clear up the lies about himself and set the record straight about himself, his life and Meghan.
The Wessex are called Wessex, the Wales are called Wales, the Yorks are called York and the Sussexes are called Sussex. What is there to see, please? All the confusion has been caused by the way Londoners deal with names. Children should always have a name that they share with their parents, if that’s possible.
I could believe the possibility of Harry exploring the idea of changing his last name to Spencer. But only if it came directly from himself or his uncle. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Harry said something along the lines of, with everything going down and with talk of their titles being removed, he considered changing their last name to start fresh. But I can’t see this leaking from Charles Spencer, who hates the press, or Harry, who also hates the press.
John Lyon, the 9th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, married wealthy heiress Mary Bowes in 1767. He changed his surname to Bowes as stipulated as a condition in Mary’s father’s will. Their youngest son Thomas Bowes-Lyon was the great-grandfather of Elizabeth the Queen Mother. A son taking his mother’s maiden name isn’t unheard of in the annals of the royal family.
No it’s not, and this sounds more to me like the response from Earl Spencer was rather tepid and not because it would have been difficult to do.
Where is the source? The only way this can be believed is if King Camilla had threatened to remove the Sussex title and or disinherit Harry. Harry is not vindictive.