A week after her royal wedding to Prince Harry, Meghan Markle has been bestowed her official Coat of Arms.
The Duchess of Sussex’s badge was revealed by Kensington Palace over the weekend and is made up of references to her native state as well as symbols of causes close to her heart.
According to the Royal website, “The blue background of the shield 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.”
“The three quills represent communication and the power of words.”
The Duchess, who worked closely with the College of Arms on the design, also paid homage to her place of birth, “beneath the shield on the grass sits a collection of golden poppies, California’s state flower, and wintersweet, which grows at Kensington Palace.”
As is custom, both husband and wife are represented on the coat of arms, with Prince Harry as the lion and Meghan as the songbird.
“It is customary for Supporters of the shield to be assigned to Members of the Royal Family, and for wives of Members of the Royal Family to have one of their husband’s Supporters and one relating to themselves.”
“The Supporter relating to The Duchess of Sussex is a songbird with wings elevated as if flying and an open beak, which with the quill represents the power of communication,” the statement added.
However fans were quick to notice the songbird appeared with a crown around its neck, arguing this was offensive and appears as though it is being strangled.
Thankfully however, there appears to be an explanation for why the bird has the crown around the neck, and it’s perfectly royal.
The songbird isn’t in distress but is being “ducally gorged”, which in laymens terms means this is where the crown must sit when someone is royal by marriage, reports The Mirror.
“When a person is royal by birth, a crown is depicted on their head, whereas when a person is royal by marriage, the crown is portrayed on the neck.”
Both Princess Diana and Kate Middleton’s Coat of Arms both appear this way too.
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