It’s Meghan something.
Meghan Markle’s last name has become a hot topic following her cringy conversation with Mindy Kaling on her new Netflix series “With Love, Meghan.”
“It’s so funny that you keep saying ‘Meghan Markle.’ You know I’m Sussex now,” Markle told the “Mindy Project” star, 45.
The “Suits” alum was then called “Meghan Sussex” during her interview on “The Drew Barrymore Show” on Thursday.
So, what is her real last name?
Markle technically became “Meghan Sussex,” and Harry became “Harry Sussex,” after their royal wedding. 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, but banned them for using the name “Sussex Royal” for their projects outside the royal family.
On her Netflix show, Markle told Kaling, 45, that she wants to share the same last name as her kids Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3.
“You have kids and you go, ‘No, I share my name with my children,’” she told the “Office” alum. “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.”
The couple’s children were named Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor and Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor when they were born in 2019 and 2021, respectively. They got the first half of their last name from Harry’s grandfather Prince Philip, while Windsor comes from Queen Elizabeth’s family.
But Archie and Lili officially became Sussexes, and finally inherited their “prince” and “princess” titles, when King Charles III ascended the throne in May 2023 after Queen Elizabeth’s death.
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 former actress 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.”
It’s common for members of the royal family to experience changes in their titles and last names over time.
For example, Harry and Prince William had the last name Wales growing up, since their parents (Charles and Diana) were the Prince and Princess of Wales.
In 2011, William became the Duke of Cambridge when he married Kate Middleton, making him William Cambridge. He later went back to using the Wales surname when his father became king.
William and Middleton’s children, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6, have also been using the last name Wales since 2022. Before that, they used the last name Cambridge.
