In 2019 and early 2020, the plane ended up working overtime helping control the mammoth bushfire season that ravaged the country,
Naming the 737 "Archie" was supposed to be in recognition of Meghan's pregnancy being confirmed during the couple's successful 2018 Australian tour.
It was hoped that one day young Archie would visit Down Under on his own tour and "meet" his namesake.
However, officials were shocked to receive a letter of reply from the then royals, politely declining the request, according to Australia's Sunday Telegraph newspaper.
It is understood the official rejection letter stated that the reason the couple did not want the airtanker to be named Archie was because their son had "not yet entered public life".
Strictly protective of their son's privacy, when he was born on May 9 last year, the couple opted out of the traditional photos on the hospital steps, refusing to say where he had been born until his birthday certificate was published days later.
They also insisted that his christening should be a private affair and refused to release the names of his godparents.
The couple thanked the government for the "kind offer", a government source said.
Instead the plane was named after Marie Bashir, New South Wales' first female and second longest-serving governor, who declared at the time to have been 'humbled by the move'.
The matter came to light after the Daily Telegraph exclusively revealed that the couple were calling their newly unveiled charity 'Archewell' last week.
They revealed the name came from the Greek word "arche", which they also revealed had been the inspiration for their son's name, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.
Arche is the Greek word meaning "source of action", they explained.
"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," they said in a statement from LA following their move there from Canada last month.
The timing of the announcement raised eyebrows, with critics noting that the middle of a global pandemic seemed a inappropriate for the couple to be launching new projects, especially as the royal family continued to self-isolate in the UK.
The state government bought the LAT and two fixed-wing aircraft at a cost of $27.5 million in 2018 having previously been forced to borrow planes from Canada and the US.
Able to fly up to 520 mph while carrying 15,000 litres of water or retardant, the Marie Bashir played a critical role in helping ground crews fight the devastating summer bushfires during her first official deployment.
"She's done so many kilometres the name Marie Bashir has almost worn off from the smoke and retardant," one RFS firefighter told the Sydney-based newspaper.
"She saved countless of homes and lives over this bushfire season.
"I'm not sure why we needed permission to name her Archie, but Marie Bashir is a good name."
