Meg and Harry's new foundation: "Let's pick a name that no one can pronounce."

One of the challenges I find about living outside my country of origin is pronouncing people's names. I meet people from all over Northern Europe as part of my business life, and it's never a good start to a business conversation to say, "And how do you say your name?"

Meg and Harry - or Meg, let's face it, this was her decision - have put all of their future business contacts into that situation by naming their new foundation "Archewell".

Arche, the Greek word Meg says is at the root of her foundation name, is pronounced ar-khay', with the emphasis on the second syllable.

That would properly make the foundation "Ar-KAY-well".

Or perhaps the foundation should be pronounced like "architect" - in other words "AR-ka-well" in US English or "AR-ki-well" in UK English.

Alternately, it could be pronounced with a silent "e," a bit like Madewell, the successful woman's clothing brand it's probably subliminally inspired by - "ARCH-well"

Or, for our forth and final contender, it could be pronounced to match the name of Meg and Harry's never-seen child: "ARCHIE-well."

That's an awkward pronunciation that sounds like a camel going over a speed bump, but knowing the Sussexes, that's probably what they will use.

The announcement of the name

For non-Telegraph subscribers, here's the text of the article announcing the name:

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are working on plans to run emotional support groups, a multi-media educational empire, and even launch a wellbeing website under a new non-profit organisation named Archewell. 

The Sussexes, who are setting up home in Los Angeles, have drawn up proposals for a vast and ambitious array of projects under the name Archewell, derived from the Greek word for “source of action” and the inspiration behind the name of their baby son, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.

The couple told the Telegraph they wanted the organisation “to do something of meaning, to do something that matters”.

According to paperwork filed in the United States last month, the couple are considering how to create their own charity and volunteering services, wide-ranging website, and sharing “education and training materials” via films, podcasts and books.

Plans, which so far include trademark requests for everything from motion picture films to paperclips, are far more extensive than those originally intended under Sussex Royal in the UK.

The new American venture could even see the Duchess build on the success of her old Goop-style website The Tig, with a “website featuring information in the field of nutrition, general health and mental health”, along with entertainment.

The couple had not planned to launch details of the “non-profit” just yet, emphasising that they and the world were rightly focusing on the threat posed by coronavirus.

But after paperwork including the name was filed in the public domain in the US, and seen by this newspaper, they confirmed they will be launching under the name Archewell.

The Duke and Duchess told the Telegraph: "Like you, our focus is on supporting efforts to tackle the global Covid-19 pandemic but faced with this information coming to light, we felt compelled to share the story of how this came to be.

“Before SussexRoyal, came the idea of ‘Arche’ - the Greek word meaning ‘source of action’.

“We connected to this concept for the charitable organisation we hoped to build one day, and it became the inspiration for our son’s name. To do something of meaning, to do something that matters.

“Archewell is a name that combines an ancient word for strength and action, and another that evokes the deep resources we each must draw upon. We look forward to launching Archewell when the time is right." 

Arche and what it really means 

It's a measure of the Sussexes' usual bluster that they chose a name based on a Greek concept when neither one of them appears to speak Greek.

My guess is that Meg (or perhaps Harry) found the concept of arche in one of their self-help books or websites.

Like any word translated from one language into another, "Arche" (really arkhē) can mean many things in English.

It can mean "the ultimate" - arch-enemy, arch-angel, archetype.

It can mean "the first, and now left behind" - archive, archaic

It can mean "chief" - ie archbishop, like poor Desmond Tutu. (This actually comes from a similar Greek word, arkhos, meaning chief.)

(One thing it doesn't mean is "arch" like an arch in a building, ie the Golden Arches. That type of arch comes from the Latin arcus for bow. But you can bet a million dollars that there will be an arch somewhere in the Archewell logo.)

"Source of action" is actually pretty far down on the list of potential translations for arche.

Archie's name

Finally, I'm not buying that the concept of arche was behind the naming of the persistantly-unseen Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.

It sounds like revisionism. Didn't Meg have a cat or dog named Archie as a child?