Meghan Markle’s ‘Disappointed’ Dad, Thomas, Reacts to Duchess Changing Her Last Name to Sussex
10th March 2025
… Except that it isn’t Sussex, it’s Mountbatten-Windsor, and has been every since she married Prince Harry (unless she’s officially changed it, which of course she can do, but of which there is no credible evidence). If she wants to go around calling herself Megan Sussex, she’s certainly entitled to do that, at least in the U.S., but that’s not her legal name. (She still “shares a last name with Harry and her two kids”, but it’s Montbatten-Windsor, not Sussex.)
If she were an ordinary (non-Royal) duchess, her legal signature in Britain (and by courtesy everywhere else) would be “Megan Sussex” to indicate that she is the wife of a peer whose peerage title was “Sussex”, just as Harry’s legal signature (if he were a non-Royal Duke) would be simply his title, “Sussex”.
But Harry (and Megan, legally) come within the ambit of the Letters Patent issued by King George V, under which Harry, as the son of the sovereign (and Megan, as his wife) are “His/Her Royal Highness” and their legal signatures are just their Christian names, “Harry” and “Megan”. Charles can change that, if he wants to, but every indication is that he doesn’t want to (and hasn’t, at least so far).
I wish these scribblers would do some research….