Duchess Meghan did not say or use her title or Sussex surname in her podcast

The Duchess of Sussex debuted her Confessions of a Female Founder podcast this week. The first episode was a one-on-one conversation with Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd, and the two women had a great energy with one another. Meghan is such a girl’s girl, and I mean that in an entirely positive way. You can just tell in Archetypes and now COAFF that she just loves talking to women and bonding with women. As I was listening to the first episode, I didn’t pay any attention to how Meghan introduced herself, but of course, that’s a conversation. People Mag had coverage, so did Page Six and I’m sure the British papers will scream about it too. As it turns out, Meghan didn’t use her title, nor did she refer to herself with any surname.

Meghan Markle is keeping it simple with her introduction on her new podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder.

The first episode, released by Lemonada Media on April 8, features the Duchess of Sussex, 43, introducing herself as simply “Meghan.” This straightforward approach is echoed in the episode’s end credits, where a voice announces: “Confessions of a Female Founder is a production of Lemonada Media, created and hosted by Meghan.” A promotional photo for the podcast also features the title followed by “with Meghan.”

Prince Harry and Meghan received the titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex from Queen Elizabeth on their May 2018 wedding day. Although the couple’s two children — son Prince Archie, 5, and daughter Princess Lilibet, 3 — were born with the royal family’s surname of Mountbatten-Windsor, they use “Sussex” as their last name.

[From People]

I know exactly what this is – this is Meghan wanting the focus to be on the podcast, interview and conversation rather than her name. She’s trying to briefly opt out of the neverending psychodrama about her name. I get that, I really do, and I don’t blame her for just wanting to do a thing without people writing a million f–king screeds about her name. But I also hate that Meghan has been bullied to the point where she feels like she can’t just use her married name without it becoming an international controversy. She’s Meghan Sussex. Or the Duchess of Sussex. Deal with it, people.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images, Meghan’s IG.