Back in March of this year, there was a crazy amount of commentary over the Duchess of Sussex using “Sussex” as her married surname. In an episode of With Love, Meghan, she told Mindy Kaling “I’m Sussex now” after Mindy referred to her as “Meghan Markle.” Meghan also explained in an interview this year that she, Harry and the kids use Sussex as their shared family surname. The British media and the Windsors continue to freak out about this every few months. Interestingly, back in June, we learned even more backstory on the Sussex surname – in the months after QEII’s death, Harry and Meghan had no idea if King Charles planned to alter the letters patent and/or remove their titles, so Harry sought advice from his uncle, the Earl of Spencer, about possibly changing their Sussex surname to Spencer, especially since the British authorities were slow-walking Archie and Lili’s passports. In any case, we’re now getting fresh discourse about this exhausting subject.
Meghan Markle is setting the record straight on her last name. The Duchess of Sussex, 44, confirmed to The Circuit with Emily Chang in an interview that aired Tuesday, August 26, that she legally changed her name upon marrying Prince Harry in 2018. She is now officially Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, the family name she shares with her children, Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4.
While Meghan’s maiden name is Markle, much has been made of what her last name is since joining the royal family. The topic became a talking point on the first season of With Love when Meghan corrected Mindy Kaling when she called her “Meghan Markle” and said, “You know I’m Sussex now.”
During the Bloomberg Originals interview, which dropped the same day that season 2 of her lifestyle series With Love, Meghan premiered on Netflix, Chang pressed, “Give me a tutorial on royal naming conventions. So like, are you Meghan Sussex? Are you Meghan, Duchess of Sussex? Is Markle even on your passport anymore? Is it, we don’t use that term anymore?”
“Well, when I got married, I changed my name. But it’s a complicated one for people to understand, because a last name is not typical in that construct,” Meghan replied, referencing her Duchess of Sussex title.
Chang asked, “I think we expect a last name. But is that a last name or is that—?”
“It’s not, but it’s, it’s used roughly, or loosely, rather. It sounds so silly to say. And I get it, because I’m American and then I went there and I started to understand. But then you come back and as an American, you go, ‘I’m so confused,’ ” Meghan joked. “It’s a dukedom.”
“A dukedom,” Chang repeated. “That’s a new word for me.”
“It’s a dukedom. So, that’s the truth of it. But at the end of the day, you know, yes. My legal name is Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, but Sussex for us works as our family name and it’s the name that we share with our children,” Meghan said. “But yes, since we’ve been married, that’s what I’ve been called,” she added about her name now.
When asked what she has learned about herself “since becoming Sussex,” she responded, “Well, interesting. What I learned about myself is no matter what my name is or what people call me, I’m still the same person. So that didn’t really, that didn’t change who I am. And maybe that’s probably the biggest distinguishing factor.”
As I said back in March, I continue to find this nitpicking over Meghan’s married surname to be so dehumanizing for her and the kids. Meghan simply “using her married name or wanting to share a surname with her husband and children” is constantly twisted into “Meghan can’t stop bringing up the Windsors” or “she WANTS to have that title so she can monetize it.” What she wants is her married name. End of story. The Windsors are the ones using the titles to lay claim to Meghan, her kids and their lives.
What’s Meghan Sussex’s Real Name? The Truth About Royal Naming
Meghan clarified in her interview with Emily Chang that her legal name is Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, but she uses Meghan Sussex as her family name, shared with Prince Harry and their children. pic.twitter.com/T42aAytyR2
— Feminegra (@feminegra) August 26, 2025
Screengrabs courtesy of The Circuit, additional photos courtesy of Meghan’s IG.
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