California not Sussex

[CaliforniaNotSussex]

I was born and grew up on the Surrey Sussex border. My brother currently lives in Sussex, my mum spent her retirement in Sussex, my grandparents lived in Sussex their whole lives, I had Saturday and holiday jobs in Sussex, my friends at school lived in Sussex.

I do not like or agree with Ms Markle having the 'Duchess of Sussex' title. She has spent all of 6 hours of her entire life here. She doesn't represent or care about me and the rest of the population of Sussex. She doesn't even like the UK. She will probably never set foot in the UK again, she hates our royal family and our country.

I cant really do much about the title being given to her. But now she wants people to refer to her as 'Meghan Sussex' according to her new netflix show.

Why?????

Why Meghan do you want you and your family to have a surname of a place you have barely ever been to, know nothing about, and which is located in a country you dislike and will never return to?

Can't you call yourself Meghan California instead? You can call yourself anything informally, and if you want to change your name formally, there is probably a way that you and Harry and the kids could adopt 'California' as your new surname.

Why oh why take/steal our home county as your new name. I get the 'duchess of Sussex' title is given to you, but you don't need to use it, and you definitely don't need to call yourself 'Meghan Sussex'.

(Some of) The people of Sussex do not want you to have our name

If you want our name then come visit. Spend time here. Visit the locals, buy OUR jam, invest in OUR schools, donate money to local charities, show interest in the place you have adopted as yours. Visit us regularly. Learn about the culture, the people, the place.

AIBU for thinking Meghan should make the effort to get to know Sussex if she now wants to be called 'Meghan Sussex'? If she doesn't want anything to do with us and will never come here again, she shouldn't call herself 'Meghan Sussex'.

Agree op

With all due respect, please give your head a shake.

Imagine having the energy to waste worrying about stuff like this. Genuinely put this energy you have into hating a woman who does not know or care about you and get a hobby or something.

The way that people unendingly hate this woman is unbelievable and frankly unhinged.

Despite this being a USA source it does explain the surname situatuion of the Royal family.

https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/where-meghan-and-the-royal-family-get-their-last-names-from/

Then Prince Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, married Prince Philip in 1947, they combined their last names to be Mountbatten-Windsor.

This name is usually given to royals without HRH (His or Her Royal Highness) or prince/princess titles who wouldn’t already have a royal house to use as a substitute for a last name.
As Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, didn’t have titles at the time of their respective births, they were given the last name Mountbatten-Windsor.
The children were made a prince and a princess respectively after their grandfather, King Charles III, took the throne on September 8, 2022. Archie and Lilibet’s royal “house” subsequently became Sussex to reflect the Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles held by Harry and Meghan since their wedding in 2018.

So the kids at least were born Mountbatten-Windsor and then when they became prince and princess followed modern examples of taking house name as surname.

So she's not wrong the all have the surname Sussex now by UK/Royal convention - no idea what rules apply in USA and if they've done the needed paper work - presumably they have.

Thing is that title likely will never be removed - why go to all the hassle and bad pr - but everyone knows they have nothing to do with UK or Sussex.

East and West Sussex will soon be a unitary authority apparently.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex opened a new technology block at the University of Chichester. The building itself is actually on the outskirts of Felpham and overlooks Butlins. Rumour has it that Harry looked at the tent like structure of Butlins and asked if it was a circus. They drove through the village afterwards and we waved.

So if someone has the surname Bradford or Hull or Bingley but they’re from the south and have never visited these places, do you think they shouldn’t be allowed to have them as surnames?

I think they should have gone for Trumpton not Sussex, as it would have irritated the right person, whilst still managing to evoke quintessential Britishness for those in the know.

It's really weird. Like you don't want to be a royal anymore and 'sussex' was your title when you were, not now. Even then it wasn't your surname.

It's like someone who used to be a company finance director but quit their career, vocally and dramatically declaring never to work in finance again, to do something totally unrelated, but insists that their surname is now 'Chartered Accountant'.

She's such a desperado.

Good god your life must be absolutely devoid of anything if you give ANY mind to this @CaliforniaNotSussex

cant you find something to do?

It’s appropriation that offends the indigenous population. yANBU

I have a friend called Devon.As a child he was always asked whether he liked the place (original) and as an adult he has still never been.

I shall inform him that he needs to change his name immediately before Devon folk find out and get upset that he doesn't represent their culture.

What a stupid, nasty, goady thread!

edited for typo

Threads like this do have their uses I suppose.
They are excellent filters.

Indeed

Most surnames derive in similar, if unroyal ways.

Frequent origins of surnames include:

• an ancestor once lived in a place (place-derived surnames, eg Lancashire)
• an ancestor had a particular occupation (trade derived surnames, eg Smith, Faulkner)
• an ancestor had a father with a name/occupation (eg Smithson)
• an ancestor lived on land belonging to a Lord of a place which features in the surname
• an ancestor was enslaved to a person of that name

Historically, people didn't have surnames and for a long time they weren't needed. Ordinary people eventually adopted surnames from the above list, where they lived or what they did. Made up examples: John of Odiham, Matthew Smithson...
The gentry & aristocracy used their titles - and still do.

I didn’t read the whole thing. But I do find it very bizarre this hatred towards a woman that you don’t know. She wants to be known by the same surname as her children and her husband because she values the family she has created. It’s nothing to do with being from Sussex or not. The British royal family don’t have proper surnames instead their titles is their surnames. She has attached her ideal of family to the surname they all share. It’s not complicated, unheard of or even remotely new. If you don’t like her just don’t watch her shows. Scroll past any posts that pertain to her. Let’s just remind ourselves that there are real people at the other end. Just because you don’t like her doesn’t mean she doesn’t have the same right to exist without constant criticism as the rest of everyone else.

It's not light hearted to say you don't believe someone was suicidal or that they experienced racism though, is it? Would you do that on your debatable sounding work with people with MH issues? 'I feel deeply for you if you feel that way. I don't actually believe you though'.
Its not light hearted to take to your keyboard for a spate of vile ranting about a woman you don't know, because the name she acquired on marriage happens to be the same as the place you live. It's quite the opposite of light hearted. It comes from a deeply nasty place.

Really, with all the shit going on in the world and this is your biggest issue.

Megan doesn't effect my life at all because I don't stalk her or look for things that I can bitch about her for.

You're probably better posting to the I hate Megan's posts, you'll find your bitchy kindred spirits there and we won't have to read your bile.

I'm not bothered by it. My friend's name is India but she's never been there.

The name and links to our Royal Family, that she professes to hate, are the only things she has to trade on. She’s a raging hypocrite. You are absolutely right, OP.

I live and come from Sussex and I'm more than happy for her to have it - given she's been so awfully bullied by so many people on forums like this.

Please speak to your doctor if you have been triggered and if anyone genuinely feels triggered by what was meant as a light hearted rant then I am deeply sorry.

You describe the below as "light hearted"?

"However, a lot of Meghan's statements have been proven to be lies and I'm not confident she was being entirely truthful in the comments she made about suicide. I don't think there was racism towards her either. She's just not a nice person, her skin colour makes no difference and should not be an excuse for her behaviour. If she did experience suicidal ideation then that's sad. If she did experience racism that's awful. But I have my doubts"

I'll add that those that hate her won't be happy till she's stripped of EVERYTHING. They don't want her to have titles, or even a surname - they claim her children either don't exist, or aren't hers 🙄 They don't want to pay for their security, but then want every venture they embark on to pay their way to fail. They want her to take bullying every.single.day and not respond. Everyone is allowed to talk about Meghan's life....but Meghan.

They want more than anything for Harry to divorce her.

Even if everything you think about her is true she STILL doesn't deserve the dehumanising and bullying she gets - she's a person, a wife, a mum - she hasn't killed anybody!

Well said, OP.

She's preening herself over a title from an institution she's reviled and rejected. What a flaming hypocrite.

This!
She clearly doesn’t even know her own name (if indeed she did take that name).

I feel the same way about the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh OP. Bastards!