Unfortunately, whenever you hard-format a cross-reference, Word 'helpfully' adds the MERGEFORMAT switch. The simplest solution is to toggle the field code display 'on' (e.g. via Alt-F9), then use Find/Replace to delete the switches, via:
Find = \* MERGEFORMAT<space>
Replace = nothing

Do note that, when adding the \* CHARFORMAT switch, you need only format the first character of the field code, in this case the 'R' of the field's 'REF' expression. There is no need to format anything else. Not applying the format to the whole field will avoid the addition of the extraneous \* MERGEFORMAT switch.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]