In her new Netflix show, With Love, the Duchess of Sussex corrects one of her celebrity guests, US Office star Mindy Kaling, who incorrectly calls her Meghan Markle
The Duchess of Sussex insists her surname has changed in her new Netflix show, With Love.
Meghan’s highly-anticipated series dropped today and shows her joined by a host of celebrity pals, including Suits co-star Abigail Spencer, Delfina Blaquier and chef Roy Choi, as she shares her best gardening, cookery and hosting tips. In the second episode, Meghan pulls up one of her famous guests who gets her surname wrong.
Actor Mindy Kaling tells Meghan: “People wouldn’t believe that Meghan Markle ate at Jack in the Box.” To which Meghan replies: “It’s so funny, too, that you keep saying Meghan Markle. You know I’m Sussex now.”
Royals use their titles in place of surnames, so Harry is officially Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, while Meghan is Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Their children, Archie and Lilibet, were granted Prince and Princess titles following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022. However, these titles aren’t really practical in day-to-day life, especially as the family have now made new lives for themselves in the US.
But it seems the couple have kept with royal tradition and decided to turn their title into a family name for everyday use. Meghan explained how much the surname means to her in a new interview with PEOPLE magazine ahead of the show airing. She described it as being part of her and Harry’s “love story”.
The Duchess fondly told the publication: “It’s our shared name as a family, and I guess I hadn’t recognised 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. It means a lot to me.”
Prince William and Princess Kate also decided to go by their royal title when their children started school, and George, Charlotte and Louis all used the surname Cambridge – their titles before Queen Elizabeth II passed away. Charles and Diana made the same decision, and William and Harry used the surname Wales during their time at school and in the Army and RAF.
The mother-of-two’s Netflix show has been made as part of the couple’s multi-million dollar five-year deal with the streaming giant, which they signed after quitting their senior royal roles just before the pandemic. The Sussexes even participated in the production, with Archie handling the clapperboard during a set visit. Some scenes were filmed in the Sussexes’ own chicken coop, garden, and orchard.
