Art is imitating life on “1923.”
The latest episode of Taylor Sheridan’s “Yellowstone” prequel featured a scene with Julia Schlaepfer’s Alexandra that has a timely connection to Meghan Markle changing her last name to Sussex.
Alexandra arrives in America at Ellis Island and when a customs officer asks for her name, she replies, “Alexandra Sussex.”
“Is Sussex your last name?” the customs officer asks.
“Sussex is the region where my family is from,” Alexandra explains.
But her response doesn’t satisfy the customers officer, who tells Alexandra, “I didn’t ask where you were from, I asked your last name.”
Alexandra then says that her last name is “Dutton.”
In the first season of the Western drama series, Alexandra was engaged to Arthur, the Earl of Sussex (Bruce Davison), who is partly inspired by Prince Arthur of Connaught.
“1923” viewers called out the Sussex scene and noted its ironic relevance on social media.
“Alex in 1923 calling herself ‘Sussex’ is really the cherry on top of this week,” one fan wrote on X.
“Alexandra of Sussex… Dutton, I mean. Dutton through and through. That Ellis Island scene was [fire emoji],” another viewer said.
Markle’s last name has been a hot topic online following her cringy conversation with Mindy Kaling on Netflix’s “With Love, Meghan.”
“It’s so funny that you keep saying ‘Meghan Markle.’ You know I’m Sussex now,” the former actress told Kaling, 45.
Markle added, “You have kids and you go, ‘No, I share my name with my children. I didn’t know how meaningful that would be to me, but it just means so much to go, this is our family name, our little family name.’”
Markle technically became “Meghan Sussex,” and Harry became “Harry Sussex,” after their royal wedding in 2018. They received the Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles from the late Queen Elizabeth II as a wedding present.
When the couple left the royal family in 2020 and moved to the US, the queen let them keep their Sussex titles.
Meanwhile, their children were made Prince Archie of Sussex and Princess Lilibet of Sussex, following the death of Queen Elizabeth and the ascension of Harry’s father, King Charles III, owing to royal rules which entitle the grandchildren of a sovereign to become prince or princesses of the realm.
In a recent interview with People, Markle spoke about the significance of her “Sussex” title and last name.
“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 said, adding, “I love that that is something that Archie, Lili, H and I all have together. It means a lot to me.”
The “Suits” alum gushed that the Sussex name “is part of our love story,” adding, “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.”
