Fury as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle fail to mark the annual ‘Sussex Day’ as historic county’s mayoral hopeful demands they are stripped of the title

Meghan recently admonished a celebrity friend on her new Netflix show claiming her surname is now Sussex not Markle.

But the former Suits star and her husband are under fire back in the UK after being accused of failing to show due respect to the county they derive their title from.

Meghan is the first Duchess of Sussex in history and Prince Harry is only the second ever Duke of Sussex – but only visited together once in 2018, for six hours.

And yesterday, as the southern county celebrated Sussex Day, the annual celebration of Sussex’s rich history and culture, there was silence from Montecito.

Instead Meghan revealed the release date for her new As Ever products and hours earlier Harry demonstrated his command of the German language in a video message to mark Germany‘s first ever Veterans Day.

Former Sussex MP Tim Loughton told MailOnline today that the couple have yet again failed to show respect to Sussex – and have ‘no interest’ in it – so should be stripped of the title.

‘Yet again the interest of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in the county from which they continue to use their title has been underwhelming to say the least’, he said.

‘It is time we had a Duke of Sussex who has a genuine interest in our County and wishing Sussex residents a happy Sussex Day is hardly a tall order.

‘They rarely visited Sussex even before they abandoned the UK for California and on our County Day today they have again shown no interest in Sussex’.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, on their only visit to the county in 2018

The moment Meghan told Mindy Kalling ‘you know I’m Sussex now’ when her friend called her Markle

Meghan and Harry were handed the dukedom of Sussex on the day of their wedding in May 2018 by the late Queen Elizabeth II.

The couple were cheered on the streets of Chichester, Bognor Regis, Brighton and Peacehaven during a packed day of engagements when they visited in October 2018.

The Duke of Sussex was invited by Germany’s defence minister to deliver a statement this week

That was the only time they visited together with Meghan spending around six hours there in her entire royal life.

But in March she insisted her surname is Sussex as she corrected her celebrity friend Mindy Kaling in an awkward moment on her new Netflix cookery show.

In episode two of With Love, Meghan, she was 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 appeared 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”. 

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”‘

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

Days later Drew Barrymore became the first celebrity to fall in line and refer to the Duchess of Sussex as ‘Meghan Sussex’.

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.

Archie and Lilibet also use Sussex as their last name, a tradition common in the royal family. 

Their father Prince Harry was known as ‘Harry Wales’ while in school and in the Army, assuming the then-title of his father as his last name.

In June a new row over the Sussex surname emerged. 

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle feared Archie and Lilibet’s British passports were being held up at the behest of their grandfather the King over the use of their HRH titles, it was claimed.

The Sussexes are said to have become ‘exasperated’ about waiting months for their children’s passports to arrive and believed it was being ‘blocked’ due to the use of their royal titles.

The couple thought the application would take weeks and suspected it was because they wanted HRH on Archie and Lilibet’s British travel documents. They then began exploring changing their surname to Spencer – a nod to Princess Diana, as revealed by The Mail on Sunday.

‘The King hadn’t wanted Archie and Lili to carry the titles, most of all the HRH, and the British passports, once created, would be the first and perhaps the only legal proof of their names’, a source close to Harry and Meghan reportedly told The Guardian.

‘There was clear reluctance to issue passports for the kids’.

The insider has claimed that Harry wanted Archie and Lilibet, whose fourth birthday yesterday was marked with a video of her mother and father twerking before her birth, to have HRH titles so when they are adults they retain the chance to become working royals, should they wish.

However, Buckingham Palace has pushed back on the claims the King or any of his staff intervened.

When asked if there was any objection from Charles or aides to the passports being issued with the HRH titles, a spokesman said: ‘No’ but declined to comment further.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were said to have feared King Charles had delayed Archie and Lilibet’s passports over their HRH titles. They have the surname Sussex

A gift basket and HRH note sent to Meghan’s friend, CEO of IT Cosmetics Jamie Kern Lima. Meghan’s spokesman last month denied that has been using it for commercial gain

On their birth certificates, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s children are Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor and Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor. 

But according to reports their applications used the surname Sussex, not Mountbatten-Windsor, which Archie had on his previous US and British passports. 

The average wait for a UK passport is currently around three weeks. 

But apparently Harry and Meghan cancelled their initial standard applications after three months and reapplied using the UK Government’s 24-hour passport service. 

But then their online meeting to fasttrack the applications was eventually cancelled at the 11th hour owing to a ‘systems failure.’ 

The Guardian’s source claimed that Harry and Meghan feared officials in the UK were ‘dragging their feet’ because Archie and Lilibet’s passport applications included the titles HRH.

The insider added: ‘Harry was at a point where British passports for his children with their updated Sussex surnames (since the death of Queen Elizabeth II) were being blocked with a string of excuses over the course of five months.

‘Out of sheer exasperation he went to his uncle to effectively say: ‘My family are supposed to have the same name and they’re stopping that from happening because the kids are legally HRH, so if push comes to shove, if this blows up and they won’t let the kids be called Sussex, then can we use Spencer as a surname?’.’

The couple then reportedly asked their lawyers to write to the HM Passport Office threatening to pursue a data subject access request relating to Archie and Lilibet’s applications.

Days later the two passports were reportedly issued with HRH titles and Sussex as the new surname.

A spokesman for Harry and Meghan said: ‘We do not comment on private issues pertaining to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex‘s children.’

The Home Office declined to comment.