A British aristocrat and a member of the extended royal family has weighed in on the debate around Meghan Markle’s last name. Lord Ivar Mountbatten, a descendant of Queen Victoria, told Town & Country that Meghan is “completely incorrect” about her last name being Sussex.
First, some context
Meghan Markle stirred up a storm in a Le Creuset teacup when she declared in her widely-panned Netflix show that she no longer uses her maiden name “Markle.”
“It’s funny you keep saying Meghan Markle. You know I’m Sussex now,” the Duchess of Sussex told Mindy Kaling in what many said was the only interesting part of With Love, Meghan’s over 5-hour-long runtime.
Going by Kaling’s expression, she clearly did not know that Meghan uses the last name Sussex - and that in itself is not surprising, as millions of viewers have since pointed out that “Sussex” is only a title, not a surname. Despite this, Drew Barrymore referred to the Suits actor as “Meghan Sussex” following the premiere of With Love, Meghan on Netflix.
Lord Ivar Mountbatten on Meghan’s last name
Town & Country asked Lord Ivar Mountbatten about the rules surrounding British royals and their surnames. He echoed what millions of social media users have said on the issue.
{{/usCountry}}Town & Country asked Lord Ivar Mountbatten about the rules surrounding British royals and their surnames. He echoed what millions of social media users have said on the issue.
{{/usCountry}}“It’s interesting because she's completely incorrect. Her family name is not Sussex, her family name is Mountbatten-Windsor,” said the British aristocrat.
By way of explaining the change in her last name, Meghan had told Mindy Kaling: “You have kids and you go, ‘No, I share my name with my children.’ 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.”
However, according to Mountbatten, Meghan and Harry’s children do not use the Sussex surname.
“Her children are called Archie and Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor; they're not called Archie and Lilibet Sussex because Sussex is a title. So, they are the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, but actually he's Harry Mountbatten-Windsor and she would be Meghan Mountbatten-Windsor,” Mountbatten explained.
“My brother is the Marquess of Milford Haven, but his surname is Mountbatten, so he's called George Mountbatten, the Marquess of Milford Haven. When I read that, it was an article about her new program, and she said that her family name is Sussex,” Lord Ivar Mountbatten concluded.
(Also read: Meghan Markle called a ‘racist bully’ for mocking Indian-origin Mindy Kaling’s accent)