Meghan Markle Mocked For Scolding Mindy Kaling Over Using Her Name: "You Know I'm Sussex Now"

Former working royal Meghan Markle has been mocked ever since the release of
her new Netflix lifestyle series, "With Love, Meghan," which dropped on
Tuesday.

The TV personality is being criticized for her show being inauthentic,
elitist, and out-of-touch, even when interacting with her friends on the
eight-episode series. One of the most viral moments comes when Markle firmly
corrects her longtime friend, actress Mindy Kaling, insisting that she's
calling her by the wrong name.

"It's so funny, too, that you keep saying 'Meghan Markle.' You know I'm
Sussex now," the "Suits" actress says abruptly at one point. Kaling remains
quiet with a serious expression as Markle goes on to explain her reasoning.

"You have kids and you go, 'No, I share my name with my children.' And that
feels so -- 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,'" she went
on.

"Well, now I know," Kaling replied. "And I love it."

Viewers have been critical of this interaction and of Markle's decision to
use her royal title "Sussex" as a last name, which is a break in tradition
for the royal family. Meghan and her husband Prince Harry were given the
titles His Royal Highness the Duke and Her Royal Highness the Duchess of
Sussex after they wed. But Sussex is a cultural region, not a name. Prince
Harry's actual surname is Mountbatten-Windsor.

Buckingham Palace said in a statement that Meghan and Harry could keep their
titles as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, but they would no longer be
referred to as His and Her Royal Highness after quitting their roles as
working royals in 2020.

Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3, are now using the last name
"Sussex" informally, which is what led Markle to want to do the same.

"She has spent under six hours in the county in her entire lifetime... she's
not a Sussex, she's a Windsor," British news anchor Piers Morgan said.

"Her name is NOT Meghan Sussex. Her name is technically Rachel Mountbatten-
Windsor," another commenter observed. "Sussex is a county in England & part
of a courtesy title-NOT her last name."

She continued, noting how the Prince and Princess of Wales, Prince William
and Kate Middleton, sometimes style their children's last name in school as
Wales to simplify things, but the adults don't.

"Diana didn't call herself 'Diana Wales' either," she wrote in an X post.
"[Meghan Markle] just showed how ignorant she is of the protocols & customs
of the family she married into & no doubt they're laughing at her. Yes... she
shares a last name [with] her kids...but it ain't Sussex."

Many other followers pointed out how Markle complained about her name change
during the bombshell interview she did with Oprah in 2021. "I grieve a lot. I
mean, I've lost my father. I lost a baby. I nearly lost my name. I mean,
there's the loss of identity," she said during that interview. "But I'm still
standing, and my hope for people in the takeaway from this is to know that
there's another side."

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