The Duchess of Sussex will be celebrating her 45th birthday today
A close colleague of Prince Harry has revealed how his wife Meghan Markle, celebrating her 45th birthday today, asked to be referred to during a meeting.
Scott Moore was appointed chief executive of Prince Harry’s Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 and met her a year before during a “One Year To Go” event.
And there was one thing on his mind before he spoke to her. “I did make sure to ask how I should be addressing them when they get here,” he explained, in Richard Eden’s column for the Daily Mail.
He was told that simply: “Ma’am’ is fine.” Meanwhile, he was told “Sir” was the suitable word to address Harry. Traditionally, male members of the Royal Family are first addressed as ‘Your Royal Highness’, followed by ‘Sir’, while female members are referred to as ‘Your Royal Highness’, and then ‘Ma’am’.
However, following Harry and Meghan’s choice to withdraw as senior working royals in 2020, they were stripped of their HRH titles. Consequently, they can no longer be addressed as Your Royal Highness, though they retain their Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles.
The adoption of formal titles such as ‘Sir’ for Prince Harry and ‘Ma’am’ for Meghan Markle represents a striking departure from his earlier position in 2020.
At that time, during a tourism conference in Edinburgh, Harry famously championed a more informal approach. Ayesha Hazarika, the event’s host, disclosed: “He’s made it clear that we are all just to call him Harry.”
Meghan has been in the news once more in recent weeks after making a surprise appearance on MasterChef Australia. It pulled in over a million viewers – but it was her introduction that really got people talking.
The highly anticipated episode, which was filmed back in April, finally hit television screens late last month. Behind the scenes, the Duchess of Sussex was a hit with the crew, with show insiders praising her as “delightful” and “easy-going” on set.
However, the matter of how she was formally addressed on the programme has sparked a fresh wave of controversy. The drama unfolded when judge Poh Ling Yeow welcomed her into the famous kitchen, announcing to the contestants:
“We’ve had MasterChef royalty in the kitchen before, but no one like this… please welcome to MasterChef Australia… the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle!”
Sources close to Meghan claimed the specific use of the term “royalty” did not go down well, given that she is no longer a working member of the Royal Family.
Audiences watching the broadcast were equally irritated. Many fans took issue with the introduction, expressing their annoyance that her “Duchess” title was used for the television appearance.
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