Meghan Markle has a new show on Netflix, and like many things that involve the Duchess of Sussex, there was controversy before its premiere date even hit the 2025 TV schedule. Things haven’t exactly quieted down now that With Love, Meghan has been released, either, as a clip of Markle correcting Mindy Kaling on her name has gone viral. So, of course, when The Office alum visited The View, Whoopi Goldberg and the gang had to ask about it.
Mindy Kaling sat down with the co-hosts on ABC’s award-winning daytime talk show to promote her own new Netflix series Running Point (which debuted to mixed reviews), but the viral moment when Meghan Markle clarified to Kaling that her last name is “Sussex,” not “Markle” was definitely on everyone’s minds. Kaling said on The View:
I had a great time. I noticed that whenever I do something, anything related to Meghan, it becomes, like, big news. We’re making sandwiches, and you know, then they’ll push in on my face on TikTok and they’ll be like, ‘Look at this emotion you felt,’ and I honestly didn’t even remember, because we shot it, like, nine months ago. I loved my time with Meghan… It was great and it’s really fascinating seeing the reaction.
Meghan Markle definitely has a way of evoking a reaction from people. In fact, it was former The View co-host Meghan McCain who spoke out against the release of With Love, Meghan amidst the Los Angeles wildfires, calling Markle “utterly tone deaf.” The premiere date of the duchess’ lifestyle series was ultimately pushed back but is now available to stream with a Netflix subscription.
So it’s fitting that the current cast of The View would be the ones to bring up the latest headlines involving Prince Harry’s wife. As they said on the show, Meghan Markle and Mindy Kaling were making sandwiches and talking about fast food (which Jack in the Box has totally capitalized on) when The Mindy Project star marveled:
I don’t think anyone in the world knows that Meghan Markle has eaten Jack in the Box and loves it.
The Suits alum laughed heartily as she replied:
It’s so funny, too, because you keep saying ‘Meghan Markle.’ You know I’m ‘Sussex’ now. You have kids and you go, ‘No, I share my name with my children,’ and that feels so… 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 Kaling said on The View, the clips circulating on social media focus on her facial expression in the aftermath of that exchange, and regardless of whether or not Kaling had forgotten about the interaction in the months that followed, she really did look stung in the moment. But only she can say how she really felt.
Personally, I don’t think either woman was in the wrong. Mindy Kaling can’t be at fault for referring to Meghan Markle by her professional name, and if Markle wants to be called “Sussex,” rather than “Markle,” she should be able to tell people that.
If you want to see what all the fuss is about, With Love, Meghan is available to stream now.
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