Meghan Markle Reveals the Main Reason She’s Holding onto Her Royal Title

“[Sussex] is our shared name as a family,” she explains, speaking about the title and moniker bestowed on her and Prince Harry by Queen Elizabeth upon their marriage in May 2018. “I guess I hadn’t recognized how meaningful that would be to me until we had children.”

She goes on: “I love that that is something that Archie, Lili, H and I all have together. It means a lot to me.” Adding one final thought on the matter, Meghan says, “[The Sussex name] is part of our love story.”

It makes sense—it’s been almost seven years since she and Harry assumed their Sussex identity and it’s been with them through thick and thin. (Not just her marriage and the birth of her children, but also their departure from the monarchy and subsequent efforts to start a new and non-royal life in Montecito—no small job.) The motherhood component makes the name all the more significant, too. After all, Sussex is Archie and Lili’s identity, too.

Of course, calls for Harry and Meghan to relinquish their titles bubble up often. Harry himself shared his take on the matter back in 2023 to Anderson Cooper while on a promotional tour for his memoir, Spare. When asked why he and Meghan had chosen not to give up their titles, his reply was short: “And what difference would that make?” (For the record, he and Meghan are no longer referred to as “His Royal Highness” or “Her Royal Highness,” but critics often demand that, if they really want a life away from the monarchy, they should give up their Sussex titles, too.)