Meghan Markle Finally Addresses Sussex Name Change Controversy in Rare Interview: ‘That’s the Truth…’
Meghan Markle got the internet talking when she playfully reprimanded Mindy Kaling for calling her 'Meghan Markle' instead of 'Meghan Sussex' on Season 1 of her Netflix cooking show, With Love, Meghan. She later explained in an interview that she adopted 'Sussex' as her last name to have a shared identity with Prince Harry and their two children. Despite her explanation, fans remained confused, prompting Markle to once again address the same in an episode of The Circuit with Emily Chang, confirming that her legal last name is indeed 'Sussex.'
During the chat, Chang pressed Markle on whether Sussex was really her last name. As reported by Tyla, Markle replied, "It's not, but it's used loosely or roughly rather. It sounds so silly to say, and I get it 'cos I'm American, and then I went there and I started to understand, then you come back and as an American, you go 'I'm so confused.'" Explaining the meaning behind the Sussex name, she added, "It's a dukedom, and that's the truth of it. But at the end of the day, yes, my legal name is Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, but Sussex works for us as our family name, and it is the name we share with our children."
The controversy about Markle’s last name first began when the Duchess corrected her guest on the second episode of Season 1 of With Love, Meghan. According to TODAY, during the segment, Markle reminisced about her childhood, sharing that she was a latchkey kid who often relied on microwaved meals to get by. In response, Kaling said, "I don’t think anyone in the world knows that Meghan Markle has eaten at Jack in the Box." Markle immediately clapped back, "It’s so funny, too, that you keep calling me Meghan Markle. You know I’m Sussex now." The awkward moment occurred while Markle and Kaling were making cucumber sandwiches for a children’s party.
In a March interview with PEOPLE, the Duchess of Sussex explained the significance behind her Sussex surname. She said, "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. I love that that is something that Archie, Lili, H, and I all have together." When Harry and Markle married in 2018, the late Queen Elizabeth bestowed upon them the royal titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The couple later began using 'Sussex' as the surname for Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, although their official birth certificates list their last name as Mountbatten‑Windsor, the official surname of the British royal family.
Coming back to her interview with Chang, according to PEOPLE, Markle also opened up about the constant media criticism she faces and how it could impact Archie and Lilibet. She said, "And even though earlier I was saying you can compartmentalize, like I say, ‘That's a caricature.’ Yes. But my kids will see those magazines, and we all know moms gossip." She hoped, "Maybe there would be less noise if people remembered that I'm a real person."