Don’t call me Markle: Meghan insists her surname is now ‘Sussex’ as she corrects celebrity friend The Office star Mindy Kaling in new Netflix cookery show

Meghan Markle has insisted her surname is Sussex as she corrected her celebrity friend and The Office star Mindy Kaling in her new Netflix cookery show.

In episode two of With Love, Meghan, which was released today, the former royal, 43, is joined by Mindy, 45, as she shows her fellow mother how to host a children’s party.

As Meghan carefully demonstrated how to assemble a cucumber sandwich, the pair spoke about their favourite fast food growing up.

The Duchess of Sussex called herself a ‘latchkey kid’ who ‘grew up with a lot of fast food and TV tray dinners’, listing off US chains Pollo Loco, Taco Bell and Jack In The Box.

But Mindy seemed to get under Meghan’s skin with her response, as she said: ‘I don’t think anyone in the world knows that Meghan Markle has eaten Jack In The Box and loves it.’

Trying to hide her frown with a smile, she replied: ‘It’s so funny you keep saying Meghan Markle, you know I’m Sussex now.’

As Mindy looked confused, Meghan, who has only visited Sussex once, continued: ‘You have kids and you go “No, I share my name with my children”. 

‘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”. 

Trying to hide her frown with a smile, she replied: ‘It’s so funny you keep saying Meghan Markle, you know I’m Sussex now’

As Mindy looked confused, Meghan, who has only visited Sussex once, continued: ‘You have kids and you go “No, I share my name with my children”‘

‘With Love, Meghan’ landed on Netflix on Tuesday morning and is aimed at showing a new side to the Duchess of Sussex

After being corrected, Mindy awkwardly responded: ‘Well, now I know and I love it.’

The late Queen Elizabeth bestowed the titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Prince Harry and Meghan for their wedding in 2018.

Since then the pair have only visited the county once when they hosted a number of engagements seven years ago.

Five years ago Harry and Meghan took a step away from their royal duties and moved to California, leading to calls for their titles to be stripped.

Meghan dropped her surname when she married Prince Harry, but as a member of the Royal Family, she now does not officially have one.

Royals conventionally use their titles in place of their surnames, meaning Meghan’s name is officially Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

Their children Archie and Lilibet were granted Prince and Princess titles following the death of Queen Elizabeth.

Now, living away from Royal life, Meghan has confirmed that the family have incorporated their title as a surname.

She added: ‘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”

After being corrected, Mindy awkwardly responded: ‘Well, now I know and I love it’

The late Queen Elizabeth bestowed the titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Prince Harry and Meghan for their wedding in 2018 

Meghan spoke out on the eve of her new Netflix show being released today. Pictured is her on the front cover of People magazine

Speaking to People Magazine in an interview released yesterday, Meghan said: ‘It’s our shared name as a family, and I guess I hadn’t recognised 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. It means a lot to me.’

She added that the ‘Sussex’ name was part of her and Prince Harry’s ‘love story’.

Prince William and Princess Kate did the same thing for their children and George, Charlotte and Louis all used the surname Cambridge when they started school – their titles before the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Both brothers Harry and William used the surname Wales during their time at school, the Army and the RAF, the title held by Charles and Diana at the time.

Meghan said her new eight-part Netflix show, which launched today, had helped her to ‘find herself’ again.

But despite her huge two-million-strong following on social media, she insisted she instead saw as a ‘female founder’ and ‘entrepreneur’ rather than an influencer.

The series has been filmed inside an $8million (£5million) mansion on a sprawling estate just two miles from the Sussexes’ Montecito home.

The Sussexes are pictured together in a family picture ahead of the programme’s release 

Meghan’s new eight-part show will feature her cooking for friends, flower arranging and showing how to host small events for friends 

It’s aimed at showing a new side to the Duchess – with royal sources saying it could be the last roll of the dice to salvage her and Harry’s lucrative $100million streaming deal.

Since Harry and Meghan signed the mega deal in 2020, there has been one smash hit and three relative duds, sparking speculation Netflix might soon cut ties.

The biographical ‘Harry & Meghan’ was the streaming service’s biggest documentary debut, viewed in almost 29 million households in its first four days, and proved a global sensation.

But Polo, a sports docuseries, Live to Lead – which focused on ‘global justice activists’ – and Heart of Invictus, about Harry’s games for wounded soldiers, proved lacklustre additions that failed to set the streaming service’s viewing figures ablaze.

‘With Love, Meghan’ sees the duchess trying to promote herself in a new way, following her dramatic tell-all to Oprah Winfrey in 2021, as a ‘domestic goddess’ baking cakes, arranging flowers and slipping into a beekeeper’s suit to collect honey.