Meghan Markle has ruffled feathers again.
The Duchess of Sussex’s latest controversial moment transpired during her new Netflix lifestyle series, “With Love, Meghan,” and involved her claiming the last name “Sussex.”
While preparing for a children’s backyard party with actress Mindy Kaling, the duchess briefly paused their conversation to correct Kaling.
“It’s so funny, too, that you keep saying Meghan Markle,” Meghan told Kaling during the second episode of the Netflix series. “You know I’m Sussex now.”
She continued, “You have kids and you go, ‘No, I share my name with my children.’ I didn’t know how meaningful it would be to me, but it just means so much to go, ‘This is our family name. Our little family name.’”
Kaling embraced the update, responding, “Well, now I know and I love it.”
Some viewers, however, have not embraced Meghan’s name change.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t their surname Mountbatten-Windsor? Sussex is a title not a surname!” one person shared on X.
Another wrote, “LOL at Meghan saying her last name is ‘Sussex’ when it’s literally ‘Mountbatten-Windsor’… I’m only a mild royal history nerd and even I know that.”
“Her name is NOT Sussex, her children’s last name is NOT Sussex-as shown on their birth certificates, Sussex is a county and part of her COURTESY title as the title is her husbands,” another viewer commented on X. “Her American children’s UK titles are meaningless here.”
In a cover story from People Magazine last week, Meghan said her last name is Sussex for a second time.
“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 told People. “I love that that is something that Archie, Lili, H and I all have together. It means a lot to me.”
So is Meghan’s last name Markle, Sussex or something else?
First, do royals have surnames?
Up until 1917, the British royal family did not have a surname. They went by titles associated with the house or dynasty they belonged to, such as William, Prince of Wales.
“In 1917, there was a radical change, when George V specifically adopted Windsor, not only as the name of the ‘House’ or dynasty, but also as the surname of his family,” per the royal family’s website.
Queen Elizabeth later changed her family surname to Mountbatten-Windsor to distinguish her direct descendants from the rest of the extended royal family.
Mountbatten was taken from Elizabeth’s husband, Prince Philip, who assumed the name Philip Mountbatten when he naturalized from Greece.
“Members of the Royal Family can be known both by the name of the Royal house, and by a surname, which are not always the same. And often they do not use a surname at all,” per the royal family’s website.
“For the most part, members of the Royal Family who are entitled to the style and dignity of HRH Prince or Princess do not need a surname, but if at any time any of them do need a surname (such as upon marriage), that surname is Mountbatten-Windsor.”
So, what is Meghan Markle’s last name?
Meghan’s maiden name is Markle. If she were to assume the last name of her husband, Prince Harry, her last name would be Mountbatten-Windsor.
As descendants of Queen Elizabeth, her children’s surname would default to Mountbatten-Windsor, according to experts on the subject.
“Her family name is not Sussex, her family name is Mountbatten-Windsor. Her children are called Archie and Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor; they’re not called Archie and Lilibet Sussex because Sussex is a title,” Lord Ivar Mountbatten, a cousin of King Charles III, told Town & Country.
He continued, “So, they are the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, but actually he’s Harry Mountbatten-Windsor and she would be Meghan Mountbatten-Windsor.”
Hilary Fordwich, a royal family expert, echoed Lord Ivar Mountbatten‘s comments.
“She’s either totally oblivious to what her actual name is, she doesn’t understand it or she’s lying,” Fordwich told The New York Times.
“By established protocol, he can use Harry Sussex, which I’ve never heard him use,” Fordwich added. “She could choose to use Meghan Sussex, but it’s not their surname. This was the issue in that Netflix clip.”
Meghan has never strictly adhered to royal protocol. Among other controversial moves, she held hands with Prince Harry in public and wore a dress without tights, both of which oppose royal protocol.
In both the United States and England, you can legally change your last name to any name you prefer. So in spite of royal tradition, Meghan — who is no longer a working royal — can technically identify herself by any surname she chooses.