Revealed: Domain name for Harry and Meghan's new Sussex.com website was bought in December last year as the fallout from 'royal racists' row unfolded after the publication of Omid Scobie's book Endgame

• Couple under fire at that point after the book made a string of allegations 

Plans for a new Sussex.com website – and a relaunch of Harry and Meghan as a business and philanthropic entity – came together at the end of last year in the wake of the ‘Royal racists’ disaster, domain name documents appear to show.

Ownership of the domain expires in mid-December this year, indicating that it was bought on around December 12th 2023.

At that point, the couple was under fire as never before after the publication of Omid Scobie’s Endgame book which made a string of allegations which further damaged their relations with the Royal Family.

The chief revelation, made only in the Dutch version of the book, named Kate, the Princes of Wales and King Charles as the two family members who had apparently speculated about how dark Archie’s skin might be.

Meghan had previously told Oprah Winfrey in an interview that the conversations about her son with Harry had happened, but did not name the family members.

Ownership the Sussex.com domain expires in mid-December this year, indicating that it was bought on around December 12th 2023 (Pictured: The new homepage of Sussex.com)

Royal biographer Omid Scobie published his book Endgame in December last year. Pictured: Mr Scobie speaking on ‘This Morning’ in defence of his book which sparked another ‘royal racists’ row

The book also said that Prince William is short tempered and claimed that Kate ‘spent more time talking about Meghan’ than talking to her.

Prince Harry reportedly tried to extend an olive branch to the family by telephoning the King on his birthday in November.

READ MORE: Harry and Meghan’s ‘provocative’ new Sussex.com website ‘is a betrayal of their agreement with the late Queen’

Records show that the Sussex.com domain was originally owned by Sussex Systems Inc, a computer software company in Washington DC. That company first registered the domain in 1995.

It was up for sale in 2011. It is not clear who the owner was before Harry and Meghan but they will likely have had to pay a substantial sum to secure it.

The couple have always denied cooperating with Scobie on this book and its predecessor Finding Freedom, although Meghan had to apologise to a court after it emerged that she had allowed a press secretary to meet with the writers.

Yesterday it was claimed the new website using their Sussex titles was a betrayal of their agreement with the late Queen Elizabeth.

The couple’s ‘provocative’ decision to relaunch their homepage as ‘Sussex.com’ sparked accusations they are trying to be ‘more Royal’.

The top Royal official must decide whether to take the Sussexes to task or ‘let it slide’ in order to keep the already fragile family peace.

Meghan and Harry hit the slopes in Whistler, Canada, on Wednesday as part of their three-day trip for the Invictus Games countdown

The Duchess of Sussex’s coat of arms appears on the newly launched Sussex.com website

This is an image issued by Kensington Palace on May 25, 2018 showing the Duchess of Sussex’s new coat of arms which was released at the time of her marriage to Prince Harry

The growing row centres around the Duke and Duchess’s decision to replace their Archewell website – the umbrella name for all their philanthropic and business endeavours – with ‘Sussex.com’.

Well-placed sources said the new online venture would provide a ‘big challenge’ for Buckingham Palace’s Lord Chamberlain.

The new homepage for ‘The Office of Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’ went live on Monday evening.

It features Meghan’s coat of arms and glowing biographies for the couple, as well as the latest news about the pair.

Many close to the royal household believe it is a flagrant breach of the supposedly cast-iron assurances Harry and Meghan gave the late Queen when they acrimoniously quit as working royals in 2020, and comes perilously close to using their royal status for commercial gain.

Others described it as a betrayal of the agreement, ‘if not in letter, certainly in spirit’.

But a source close to the couple brushed off the claims and defended the use of their royal titles for the website.

They said: ‘Prince Harry and Meghan are the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. That is a fact. It is their surname and family name.’

The palace has declined to comment, preferring to focus on The King who returned to London yesterday for meetings and cancer treatment.

But one insider said: ‘Buckingham Palace may have its hands tied in taking action. The King has other things he needs to focus on at the moment and the last thing His Majesty needs is another fight with his son. But this won’t go down well at all.’

Prince Harry, who is fifth in line to the throne, is described on the Sussex.com website as a ‘humanitarian, military veteran, mental health advocate and environmental campaigner’

It has been claimed the new website using their Sussex titles was a betrayal of their agreement with the late Queen (Pictured: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in June 2018)

Meghan, whose Spotify podcast, acting career and lifestyle blog The Tig are all referenced in her biography, is hailed as a ‘feminist and champion of human rights and gender equity’

Insiders highlighted the decision to use only Meghan’s royal coat of arms on the web page and not Harry’s.

Some theorised that having the prince’s coat of arms would be too provocative ‘even for them’. Others wondered whether it was because ‘ultimately this is a re-branding for Meghan’.

Meghan’s coat of arms reflects her Californian background. The shield contains the colour blue to represent the Pacific Ocean, and yellow rays to symbolise sunshine.

Under the shield is the golden poppy, California’s state flower, and Wintersweet, a flower that grows at Kensington Palace and was also featured on her wedding veil.

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