HEF NO MORE

Hugh Hefner’s Widow Is Ditching His Name Eight Years After His Death

Crystal Harris, as she will be soon be known, is planning to tie the knot for the second time next year.

Hugh Hefner’s widow has filed to legally change back to her maiden name, Crystal Harris, eight years after the death of the Playboy founder. The filing comes less than three months after she announced her engagement to James Ward, a microbiologist, after a year of dating. The 39-year-old will tie the knot in 2026 for the second time as Crystal Margaret Harris, though it is not clear if she will change her name again to become Crystal Ward after the nuptials. Crystal said changing her name back was part of “reclaiming my maiden name,” Us Weekly reported. She spoke out on social media last month about the difficulty changing her Instagram handle back to her maiden name in an indication that a formal change was on the horizon. Crystal married Hefner in 2012 and the couple were together for five years until Hefner’s death in 2017 aged 91. The pair met in 2009 and Crystal became one of the publisher’s girlfriends at the Playboy Mansion, despite a 60-year age gap.