Should We Be Calling Meghan Markle “Meghan Sussex” Now?
Meghan Markle tells friend Mindy Kaling in her new Netflix series 'With Love, Meghan' that she wants to be called "Meghan Sussex" now, not Meghan Markle.
The world knows her by her maiden name, Meghan Markle—but it seems Meghan wants us to call her “Meghan Sussex” now.
That’s what she told Mindy Kaling in an episode of her eight-part Netflix series With Love, Meghan, which began streaming on the platform on March 4. At one point, Kaling refers to Meghan as “Meghan Markle,” to which Meghan points out, “It’s so funny that you keep saying Meghan Markle. You know I’m Sussex now.”
Meghan Markle and Mindy Kaling in 'With Love, Meghan'.
Netflix
“You have kids and you go, ‘No, I share my name with my children.’ And that feels so…I didn’t know how meaningful it would be, but it just means so much to go, ‘This is our family name, our little family name,’” she continued.
In response, Kaling replies, “Now I know, and I love it.”
Queen Elizabeth gave Prince Harry and Meghan the Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles on their May 19, 2018 wedding day, much like she’d given Prince William and Kate Middleton the titles of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge when they married on April 29, 2011. (The two have since become the Prince and Princess of Wales.) When Harry and Meghan’s kids Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet were born in 2019 and 2021, respectively, they were previously known as “Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor” and “Miss Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor,” the familial surname of the British royal family. However, after Queen Elizabeth’s death on September 8, 2022 and King Charles taking over the throne, they were given the titles of “Prince” and “Princess” because their grandfather was now the monarch, per the 1917 Letters Patent issued by King George V. Harry and Meghan first publicly used these titles in March 2023 upon the occasion of Lilibet’s christening.
Prince Harry, Princess Lilibet, Prince Archie, and Meghan Markle.
YouTube/Netflix
In a new interview with People, Meghan opened up about the importance of the Sussex surname, telling the publication, “I think as the kids get older, they’re so excited about, ‘Oh my gosh, Mama and Papa, how did you meet?’ I think that will come with time as they get older, but for right now a huge part of our love story is that we share the name Sussex.”
“It's our shared name as a family, and I guess I hadn’t recognized how meaningful that would be to me until we had children,” she added. “I love that that is something that Archie, Lili, H, and I all have together. It means a lot to me.”