Claims that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were unfairly treated by UK authorities over a passport delay have been met with scepticism by an immigration expert, who pointed instead to standard Home Office protocols. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are reported to have faced a six-month wait while attempting to secure British passports for their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, with the delay said to have contributed to Prince Harry sounding out his uncle, Earl Spencer, about dropping the “Mountbatten-Windsor” surname in favour of “Spencer”.
However, those familiar with the process suggest the delay is not exceptional given the complexity of the application — and point to established rules which automatically disapply fast-track processing where a case is flagged for additional checks. Sacha Wooldridge, Partner and Head of Immigration at Birketts LLP, said the situation was far from unique. She explained: “HM Passport Office has a clear ‘one-name for all official purposes’ policy, so all applicants must have the same name on any/all passports they hold. This helps prevent crime and fraud.
“If applicants request a British passport using a different name to their existing passport, then typically they’ll be asked to withdraw and re-submit in the same name as their existing passport, or to secure an update to their pre-existing passport in order to change their name and ensure continuity in all official forms of ID.
“I see clients face these delays frequently where they’re not aware of this rule.”
Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet were reportedly registered under different names in the United States, where the family now live. Their British applications are understood to have used their royal titles, potentially creating a mismatch which would have triggered scrutiny.
Under Home Office guidance, all first-time passport applications are subject to enhanced fraud checks — and if a name inconsistency is detected, they are often automatically classified as “complex”. Once that happens, standard processing timelines no longer apply, even if a priority fee is paid.
Ms Wooldridge said: “It will take time for the Home Office to consider and process any requests for exceptional processing and any exceptions of this nature. For a VIP, it would need to be dealt with at the very highest levels within the Home Office, which would take time to obtain.
“In such instances, a six-month delay isn’t unsurprising by typical Home Office service standards experienced by many.”
The Sussexes – in the limelight again after Meghan shared a clip via Instagram of them twerking – are believed to have sought help from the VIP team within the Passport Office, which handles sensitive applications — but experts suggest that while the profile of the case may have warranted additional attention, it would not have guaranteed faster turnaround.
There is no suggestion the application was rejected or blocked, and Whitehall insiders argue that had the couple attempted to withdraw and refile the documents using a different name, the delay could easily have stretched even further.
The broader frustration reportedly prompted Prince Harry to raise the idea of changing his children’s surname to “Spencer”, the maiden name of his late mother, Princess Diana.
While the legal mechanics of such a change would be possible, it would further complicate future documentation, especially where nationality, citizenship, and royal titles intersect.
Ultimately, the six-month wait appears to have been the product of standard Home Office procedures applied to a complicated case — rather than targeted obstruction or discrimination.
While the Sussexes may have expected expedited treatment given their former royal roles, senior immigration figures suggest that once they stepped down as working royals, their applications were more likely to be processed in line with standard criteria — regardless of their global profile.
Buckingham Palace has strongly denied that the King or palace aides had anything to do with the delays in issuing their passports.
Asked if the palace had made any suggestion or objection to the documents being issued with the HRH titles, a spokesman said: “No.”
The Home Office and Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the report.
A spokesperson for the Duke of Sussex said: “We do not comment on private issues pertaining to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s children.”