Meghan Markle has made it clear—she no longer wants to be referred to by her maiden name. Instead, she insists on being called Meghan Sussex, a move she revealed during the second episode of her Netflix show, With Love, Meghan.
During a lighthearted conversation with actress Mindy Kaling, the mood suddenly shifted when Kaling casually referred to her as “Meghan Markle.”
Meghan, who had been chopping cucumbers, momentarily paused before responding, “It’s so funny, too, that you keep calling me Meghan Markle. You know I’m Sussex now.” The brief moment of tension was evident as Kaling, taken aback, quickly adjusted and responded, “Well, now I know—and I love it.”
Meghan went on to explain the reasoning behind her preference, emphasizing the importance of sharing a last name with her children. “When you have kids, you go, ‘I share my name with my children, and that feels so… I didn’t know how meaningful that would be to me. It just means so much, to go, ‘This is our family name, our little family name.’”
The decision to embrace the Sussex name appears to reinforce Meghan’s connection to her royal title, despite ongoing calls from critics to have it removed. She and Prince Harry were granted the Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles by the late Queen Elizabeth II upon their marriage in 2018, and their children, Archie and Lilibet, also now bear the Sussex surname.
While Meghan does not directly address her estrangement from the royal family in the episode, her choice to adopt the Sussex name comes at a time when tensions remain high. Notably, she does not mention Prince William, her children’s uncle, with whom she and Harry remain at odds.
Meghan’s insistence on her preferred name also draws comparisons to Kate Middleton, who has long tried to transition to being called Catherine—a shift that has been met with mixed success.
The question remains: Will “Meghan Sussex” catch on, or will the world continue to call her by the name she rose to fame with?
