Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s joint monogram is finally here and, like the couple it represents, it’s a departure from the royal norm.
The royal blue cypher features a combined cursive “H” and “M” to signify the newlyweds’ bond and establish them as one solid unit. Atop the initials are a crown with a two-cross pattee, two fleurs-de-lis and two strawberry leaves.
The conjoined nature of their initials may be an homage to the one Harry’s late mother, Princess Diana, shared with his father, Prince Charles. The Prince and Princess of Wales’s monogram, however, is far more ornate that Harry and Meghan’s and features the same coronet, but with feathers and the words “Ich Dien,” or “I serve.”
These intertwined letters are in stark contrast to Prince William and Kate Middleton’s official cypher, which stacks a rotund crown over a gray script “C” (for Catherine) and black “W.”
The same is true of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s design, which is the boldest of them all (in true QE fashion). Her Majesty’s dual design includes a bold-type “E” and “P” in yellow under the St. Edward’s crown, which she wore to her coronation ceremony in 1953.