Britain's Prince Harry explored changing surname to Spencer, says Guardian report

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan explored the idea of changing their family name to Spencer amid months of delays in their two children receiving British passports, the Guardian newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Harry, the Duke of Sussex, believed that the passport delays were the result of British officials blocking the applications over the use of the Sussex surname and HRH titles (his or her royal highness) for his children, the newspaper said, citing an unnamed source.

A source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that the prince had a meeting with his late mother Diana's brother, Charles Spencer, to discuss the family name.

The source also said other media reports which said Spencer had advised Harry against changing his surname and that the legal hurdles to doing so were insurmountable, were inaccurate.

Harry, the younger son of King Charles, stepped down from royal duties in 2020 and moved to California, where he lives with Meghan and their two children, Archie and Lilibet.

Since leaving, he and Meghan have been highly critical of the royals in TV documentaries, an explosive interview with U.S. chat show host Oprah Winfrey and most notably in Harry's best-selling biography "Spare." The prince is barely on speaking terms with either his father or his elder brother, heir to the throne Prince William.

In a BBC interview last month, Harry said he wanted reconciliation with the British royal family, but that his father King Charles will not speak to him over a separate row about his security.

(Reporting by Michael Holden and Sachin Ravikumar; editing by William James)