One of Ellen DeGeneres’ pet chickens has just gained a royal title.
On Saturday 13 January, the former talk show host took to Instagram to share an update on her chicken coop. In the caption, DeGeneres explained that one of her chickens had an injury and needed to be relocated because of how the fellow chickens were treating her.
“Sinkie’s leg is fixed but our chickens were still picking on her so she had to be re-homed,” her Instagram post read. “Luckily our friends Harry and Meghan’s coop had room for one more. Not sure yet what her royal title will be. Thanks Dr Christine Sellers for your excellent care of Sinkie.”
The royal couple has been friends with the comedian for many years, especially after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down from their duties as senior working royals in 2020 and relocated to Montecito, California. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex even attended DeGeneres’ surprise vow renewal with her wife, Portia de Rossi, in February 2023.
Since Harry and Meghan made their move, the couple has discovered a passion for rescuing chickens from a factory farm. The pet chickens are kept in a coop named “Archie’s Chick Inn” after their eldest child, four-year-old Prince Archie.
“I just love rescuing,” Meghan said during her bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, which took place after she and her husband stepped down from royal family life.
After DeGeneres formally announced that Sinkie has been taken in by the Sussexes, many people flooded the comments section with name suggestions fit for a royal chicken. “Duchess of Yolk,” one commenter wrote.
“Lady Sinkington would be such a cute royal title for Sinkie!” another commenter suggested.
“Her Henness,” a third commenter wrote.
Most recently, it was reported that the late Queen Elizabeth II was infuriated by Harry and Meghan’s claim that she had approved of them naming their daughter Lilibet, according to a new book.
In 2021, Harry and Meghan announced their daughter’s birth and shared in a statement that she was named after the Queen, whose family nickname is Lilibet. However, a new biography by royal journalist Robert Hardman has said the late Queen was “as angry as I’d ever seen her” after the couple stated she had been “supportive” of the name.
The book, which is currently being serialised in the Daily Mail, also claims the Sussexes were “rebuffed” by Buckingham Palace when they asked them to back up their claim publicly.
The book reads: “One privately [member of palace staff] recalled that Elizabeth II had been ‘as angry as I’d ever seen her’ in 2021 after the Sussexes announced that she had given them her blessing to call their baby daughter ‘Lilibet’, the Queen’s childhood nickname.
“The couple subsequently fired off warnings of legal action against anyone who dared to suggest otherwise, as the BBC had done. However, when the Sussexes tried to co-opt the Palace into propping up their version of events, they were rebuffed.”
Shortly after Lilibet’s name was announced, the BBC reported that a palace source had said the Queen “was not asked by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex about naming their daughter Lilibet”. As a result, the couple accused the broadcasters of libel, but according to Hardman, the threat of legal action “evaporated and the libel action against the BBC never materialised”.
At the time, Harry and Meghan’s spokesperson said: “The Duke spoke with his family in advance of the announcement, in fact his grandmother was the first family member he called.
“During that conversation, he shared their hope of naming their daughter Lilibet in her honour. Had she not been supportive, they would not have used the name.”
The Independent has contacted Buckingham Palace for a response.
