Markle quickly responded, “It’s so funny, too, that you keep calling me Meghan Markle. You know I’m Sussex now.”
The lighthearted but slightly awkward exchange happened as the two prepared cucumber sandwiches for a children’s party.

The Meaning of the Sussex Name

In a March interview with PEOPLE, Markle elaborated on why she values the Sussex surname. She shared:
“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. I love that that is something that Archie, Lili, H, and I all have together.”

When Prince Harry and Meghan married in 2018, the late Queen Elizabeth granted them the titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Since then, the couple has used “Sussex” as the surname for Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, though their birth certificates officially list Mountbatten-Windsor, the royal family’s designated last name.

Facing Media Scrutiny

Returning to her discussion with Chang, Markle also touched on the relentless media criticism she endures and how it could affect her children. She admitted:

“And even though earlier I was saying you can compartmentalize, like I say, ‘That’s a caricature.’ Yes. But my kids will see those magazines, and we all know moms gossip.”

She added with hope, “Maybe there would be less noise if people remembered that I’m a real person.”