Songbird and California sun: the coat of arms fit for a Duchess
US emblems meet British tradition in crest for Meghan as the Markle family complain of ‘snub’
THE Duchess of Sussex has been granted a coat of arms, holding it in her own right after the Markle family did not receive one of their own.
The design features the blue sea off the Californian coast and a songbird emblem of communication to represent the Duchess, who helped to design the image, in married life.
Prior to the Duchess of Cambridge’s marriage, her father was awarded a coat of arms for the Middleton family. Following her wedding to Prince William, that crest was combined with his coat of arms.
The Duchess of Sussex has instead chosen her own symbols, with the white songbird for her “supporter” to stand opposite the lion representing her husband and his family.
Thomas Markle, the Duchess’s American father, is said to have English ancestors in his distant family line, and so could have been eligible only for a honorary coat of arms had he applied.
The decision to grant the Duchess a coat of arms in her own right follows a model set by the Duchess of Gloucester when she married into the Royal Family in 1972 after being born in Denmark.
More usually, the coat of arms belonging to a royal bride impales the emblem of her own family with that of her husband to form a new image.
In 2011, the Middleton family was granted its own coat of arms, incorporating the three acorns of the Middleton children with a golden chevron representing her mother’s maiden name of Goldsmith.
While most royal brides have two “supporters of the shield” represented on their coats of arms, one from their husband and one relating to themselves, the Duchess has a “songbird with wings elevated as if flying and an open beak, which with the quill represents the power of communication”. A coronet has also been assigned, composed of two crosses patée, four fleursde-lys and two strawberry leaves.
Just as American emblems were included on the vellum of the Instrument of Consent before her marriage, the coat of arms is infused with transatlantic symbols. The Duke is represented with his own coat of arms on the left hand side, granted on his 18th birthday, which includes both his Royal family lineage and the small, red escallops of his mother’s family.
The Markle family has complained bitterly of a “snub” after Thomas Markle, the Duchess’s father who was unable to attend her wedding, was not given his own coat of arms. Samantha Grant, the Duchess’s estranged half sister, declared it “really stripping him of an honour”, delivering a “huge insult”.
In fact, Mr Markle’s US citizenship meant that he could only be granted an honorary coat of arms, had he applied. If he had been granted one, it would not have been used by the Duchess by virtue of being honorary, with her own coat granted by the Queen through Royal warrant
‘The Duchess of Sussex took a great interest in the design’
superseding it. A Kensington Palace spokesman said the Duchess of Sussex’s coat of arms was “both personal and representative”, and had seen the newly-wed work closely with the College of Arms on its design. “The blue background ... represents the Pacific Ocean off the California coast, while the two golden rays across the shield are symbolic of the sunshine of the Duchess’s home state,” they added. “The three quills represent communication and the power of words. Beneath the shield on the grass sits a collection of golden poppies, California’s state flower, and wintersweet, which grows at Kensington Palace.” The design was approved by the Queen and Thomas Woodcock, the garter king of arms and senior herald in England. Mr Woodcock said: “The Duchess of Sussex took a great interest in the design. Good heraldic design is nearly always simple and the arms of the Duchess stand well beside the historic beauty of the quartered British royal arms.”