Meghan Markle’s Sussex rebrand sends stern message to royal family: expert

Meghan Markle’s name rebrand is said to be sending a message across the pond.

The Duchess of Sussex sparked both confusion and curiosity when she made a revelation about her royal title in her Netflix series, “With Love, Meghan.”

In the second episode, the “Suits” alum bonded with Mindy Kaling in the kitchen and described how she was a “latchkey kid” who “grew up with fast food and TV tray dinners, microwavable kids’ meals.” She also noted that she “grew up with that and watching ‘Jeopardy!’ and having a lot of fast food – Taco Bell, Jack in the Box.”

MEGHAN MARKLE CORRECTS MINDY KALING AFTER AWKWARD SLIP-UP IN NETFLIX SERIES: ‘YOU KNOW I’M SUSSEX NOW’

Kaling exclaimed, “People wouldn’t believe that Meghan Markle ate at Jack in the Box.”

The 43-year-old corrected the 45-year-old, stating, “It’s so funny, too, that you keep saying Meghan Markle. You know I’m Sussex now.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Archewell, which handles the offices of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, for comment.

“With Love, Meghan” premiered on March 4. (Jenna Peffley/Netflix © 2025)

Kinsey Schofield, host of the “To Di For Daily” podcast, told Fox News Digital that she believes the awkward exchange was no accident.

Drew Barrymore called the Duchess of Sussex “Meghan Sussex.” (The Drew Barrymore Show/CBS)

“Aside from being another branding or rebranding opportunity for Meghan… I think this is her stubborn way of trying to tell the royal family she will go around them and legally change her name if she has to in case they ever take away her title. I also think it’s an effort to distance herself from her past and her DNA relatives.”

“Technically, she can be [styled as] Meghan Sussex, but it’s rare that someone who was not born into the family takes a title as a surname,” Schofield claimed.

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“A young Prince Harry was Harry Wales, as his father was the Prince of Wales. Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie were the York girls because their father was the Duke of York. But Princess Diana was never Diana Wales. Catherine was never Catherine Cambridge.”

Products from Meghan Markle’s lifestyle brand As Ever, including the Flower Sprinkles pictured here, will be available for purchase later this year. (Jake Rosenberg/Netflix © 2025)

Schofield is also adamant that Meghan’s title is essential to the royal, who is attempting to make her mark as an entrepreneur in California. Her lifestyle brand, As Ever, will have products available for purchase later this year.

“The royal family’s traditional surname is Mountbatten-Windsor… and Meghan knows this, or she wouldn’t have put it on the birth certificates of [her children] Archie and Lili,” said Schofield. 

Prince Harry made a brief appearance in the final episode of “With Love, Meghan.” (Jake Rosenberg/Netflix © 2025)

“It was Meghan and Harry who briefed the press in 2019 that their son was not going to have a title. Meghan then accused his lack of title on racism during the Oprah interview [in 2021]. Lo and behold, today, her American children… have titles.”

Oprah Winfrey interviewed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for a special in 2021 where they revealed their struggles with royal life. (Harpo Productions/Joe Pugliese via Getty Images)

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back as senior royals in 2020 and moved to the wealthy, coastal city of Montecito. They cited the unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media for their royal exit. 

Following their royal exit, the couple went on to air their grievances in televised interviews. Harry also wrote a memoir, “Spare,” in 2023, where he described his struggles with royal life.

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Mindy Kaling and Meghan Markle after they set up a children’s tea party. While Meghan brought up her children frequently throughout “With Love, Meghan,” they weren’t seen. (Netflix)

During the couple’s sit-down with Winfrey, Meghan claimed to the media mogul that the palace decreed Archie wouldn’t have a title, a move she described as “different from protocol.”

During her sit-down with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan Markle explained why her son Archie wasn’t styled as a prince at the time. (Joe Pugliese/Harpo Productions via AP)

“They didn’t want him to be a prince… which would be different from protocol, and that he wasn’t going to receive security,” she claimed to Winfrey. “We have in tandem the conversation of, ‘He won’t be given security. He’s not going to be given a title.'”

When Archie was born in 2019, he was entitled to the “courtesy title” Earl of Dumbarton, People magazine reported. According to the outlet, the couple announced shortly after his birth that they had not given their son a courtesy title and, instead, he would be known as Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.

“Meghan Markle has a real issue with coming across as a hypocrite or a contradiction. When Meghan appeared on Oprah… she claimed she almost lost her name to the British royal family. Now a… title given to Prince Harry and his wife by the family has become her whole identity.”

— Kinsey Schofield

Meghan’s lifestyle brand was originally known as American Riviera Orchard. However, due to trademark issues, among others, it was renamed to As Ever. (Daniel Leal/Pool/AFP/Getty Images)

The outlet pointed out that, according to royal guidelines, great-grandchildren of the monarch, who was Queen Elizabeth II at the time, are not princes or princesses, except for children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales. That’s why Prince William and Kate Middleton’s children are Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle became known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex when they married in 2018. (Getty Images)

King Charles III, Harry’s father, ascended to the throne in 2022 upon the death of his mother, the queen. As currently listed on the royal family’s website, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s children are now styled as Prince Archie of Sussex and Princess Lilibet of Sussex.

Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told Fox News Digital that Meghan isn’t breaking royal protocol in styling herself as “Meghan Sussex.” But after “Megxit” and the tell-alls that came with it, he was surprised that she was adamant on keeping her royal title.

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While Prince Harry and Meghan Markle aren’t working royals, they still hold their titles. (Reuters)

“It is interesting to see how they use Sussex, which is theirs to use, as their royal status is the one thing they have to offer,” said Fitzwilliams. “As ‘With Love, Meghan’ proved, there isn’t much else!”

Royal experts told Fox News Digital that Meghan’s Duchess of Sussex title was a gift from the late Queen Elizabeth II. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Royal expert Ian Pelham Turner also told Fox News Digital that the former American actress is attempting to rebrand herself after struggling to win back the public. He noted that the name itself is the rebrand.

“She’s using the Sussex suffix to show a distinction from Meghan Markle,” Pelham Turner explained. “I think she is under tremendous strain right now. She is obviously a perfectionist.”

“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,” Meghan Markle told People magazine. (Jenna Peffley/Netflix © 2025)

Kaling had to address the exchange during her appearance on “The View” after it sparked backlash on social media.

Mindy Kaling (pictured here with Meghan Markle) had to address the interaction during an appearance on “The View.” (Netflix)

“You know, I had a great time,” said Kaling. “I noticed that whenever I do something, anything related to Meghan, it becomes like… big news.

“We were making sandwiches and, you know, then they’ll push in on my face on TikTok, and they’ll be like, ‘Look at this emotion you felt,’ and I honestly didn’t even remember, ’cause we shot it, like, nine months ago.”

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Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told Fox News Digital that Meghan’s name change won’t stick. (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

 “I loved my time with Meghan,” Kaling added.

Netflix confirmed that “With Love, Meghan” was renewed for Season 2. Episodes will premiere in the fall. (Jake Rosenberg/Netflix © 2025)

Meghan was born Rachel Meghan Markle. People magazine noted it’s unclear when or why she began using her middle name. However, she was known as Meghan throughout her school years and acting career.

After she married Harry in 2018, the couple was granted the royal titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex by the queen, Harry’s grandmother. Despite not being working royals, they’ve retained their titles, which are reflected on the royal family’s website, in the credits of the Netflix series and Meghan’s lifestyle brand, As Ever.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex is seen here with her friend Delfina Figueras, wife of polo player Nacho Figueras, in an episode of “With Love, Meghan.” (Netflix)

People magazine also reported that Archie, 5, and Lilibet, 3, use Sussex as their surname, a tradition within the royal family, as Schofield pointed out.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back as senior royals in 2020. They reside in California. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

“When William and Harry were in the army, they both used the surname Wales,” said Fitzwilliams. “Prince Andrew’s daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, used York before they married, as their father is the Duke of York. The royal family’s official surname is Mountbatten-Windsor, but members of the royal family and the aristocracy often use their title as a surname.”

Queen Elizabeth II, England’s longest-reigning monarch, died in 2022. She was 96. (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

“Harry and Meghan were made Duke and Duchess of Sussex by Queen Elizabeth when they married,” he said. “Therefore, their children use Sussex as a surname. So, Meghan is behaving in accordance with royal tradition.”

Royal expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital that only Parliament, not the British royal family, can strip a member of its title.

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King Charles III was crowned in May 2023. (Kirsty Wigglesworth/Pool via Reuters)

“It would take an Act of Parliament to remove their Sussex title,” she said. “A potential sanction might be explored if any further bombshell interviews or books are released. Then, Parliament would need to take action… If they were to ever lose their titles, they would be known as Prince Harry and Princess Henry [as Harry was born with the name ‘Henry’]. King Charles III does not have all the authority required.”

Despite being king, Charles doesn’t have the authority to strip the Duke and Duchess of Sussex of their royal titles; Parliament does, royal expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital. (Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images)

“It has become a greater issue allowing Meghan Markle to feed off her title for this show,” Fordwich claimed. “But, while their Duke and Duchess titles can be removed, ‘Prince’ can’t be removed from Harry.”

For Schofield, the name change makes Meghan appear inauthentic.

“You have kids and you go, ‘No, I share my name with my children,'” Meghan told Mindy Kaling. “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.” (Jake Rosenberg/Netflix © 2025)

“Meghan Markle has a real issue with coming across as a hypocrite or a contradiction,” she claimed. “When Meghan appeared on Oprah… she claimed she almost lost her name to the British royal family. Now a… title given to Prince Harry and his wife by the family has become her whole identity.”

Meghan Markle told People magazine that the Sussex name “is part of our love story.” She shared, “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.” (Netflix)

Fitzwilliam doesn’t believe the name will stick – just as Princess Catherine is still referred to as Kate Middleton both online and by many in the public.

“I don’t expect that will change soon,” he said.