The reason behind Prince Harry’s surname change has been revealed in his wife’s latest lifestyle series.
During the second episode of With Love, Meghan, her new Netflix show, Meghan Markle shared an interesting detail with actress Mindy Kaling—she no longer goes by Markle.
Instead, she insisted that the star of The Office refer to her by her actual surname: Sussex.
“It’s so funny, too, that you keep saying Meghan Markle. You know I’m Sussex now,” she said.
“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’.”
This revelation quickly sparked debate online, with many questioning whether Sussex is indeed the official family name of Meghan and Prince Harry—and if so, when exactly it was changed.
Prince Harry, born Henry Charles Albert David on September 15, 1984, didn’t have a last name recorded on his birth certificate, following royal tradition. However, as a direct descendant of Queen Elizabeth II, he was technically entitled to use the surname Mountbatten-Windsor.
In the royal family, children typically take their parents’ surnames, which are determined by their official titles. Once they receive a title of their own, their last name changes accordingly.
Instead of using the surname Mountbatten-Windsor, Harry was given the last name Wales because his parents, Princess Diana and Prince Charles (now King Charles III), held the titles of Prince and Princess of Wales.
According to Hello! Magazine, on the morning of his wedding to Meghan in May 2018, Queen Elizabeth granted Harry the title Duke of Sussex.
With this new title, Harry no longer used the surname Wales and instead adopted Sussex as his designation. Likewise, when Meghan married him, she became the Duchess of Sussex and effectively dropped Markle, becoming Meghan Sussex.
However, when their son Prince Archie was born in May 2019, his birth certificate listed his full name as Master Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. The same applied to their daughter Lilibet, who was officially recorded as Miss Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor at birth.
Interestingly, their surnames changed following the passing of their great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, in September 2022. With her death, Prince Charles immediately ascended the throne as King Charles III, which automatically shifted Archie and Lilibet’s positions in the line of succession.
Thanks to legislation introduced by King George V in 1917, Archie and Lilibet were finally granted the titles of Prince and Princess—just like their cousins, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.
After Lilibet’s christening in March 2023, the royal family’s official website was updated to reflect the revised line of succession.
It was also confirmed that the children would now be referred to as Prince Archie Sussex and Princess Lilibet Sussex.
Despite Harry and Meghan stepping down as senior royals in 2020, their Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles remain intact—these can only be revoked through legislative action.
So, unless an official decision changes things, the family continues to be known as The Sussexes.