William and Kate charity formally splits from Harry and Meghan

Britain's Prince William and wife Kate Middleton have made their planned split from Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle official by registering a new name for their charity.

In documents published by the UK's Companies House this week, William and Kate's foundation is now called The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, removing the Duke and Duchess of Sussex Harry and Meghan as partners in the foundation.

The name change comes after an announcement of a split in the royals' charitable work earlier this year, with plans under way for Harry and Meghan to set up their own Sussex Royal Foundation.

Last week, the royal couple appointed influential media executive Karen Blackett, chairperson of MediaCom UK, as the first trustee of the proposed new foundation for the work Harry and his former American model-actor wife intend to take on.

The plan for the two brothers going their separate way with their charitable pursuits was unveiled in June amid reports of rifts within the royal household between their wives. However, palace sources denied the charity split was due to a feud, saying it was "largely about preparing both couples for their future roles, which are obviously on divergent tracks".

A fee of 10 pounds was paid to Companies House by William and Kate's charity to file the "notice of change of name by resolution", and comes just over a year after they had initially amended the name to include Meghan after she got engaged to Prince Harry.

The decision to split the foundation came as a surprise after the royal couples talked about how excited they were to be working together at a much-publicised event in London in February 2018.