Almost all of the “royal titles” given at birth or marriage are derived from old dukedoms, earldoms and the like. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of titles which are currently in abeyance (meaning, in suspended use) which are “property of the monarchy” in some way, shape or form. Prince Edward is currently the Duke of Edinburgh, but technically, King Charles became the DoE when his parents died, and he only “gave” it to Edward as a birthday present. The title wasn’t bestowed by the city of Edinburgh, nor is the title contingent upon Edward’s popularity in Scotland, nor is the title contingent upon a certain number of visits to Scotland. Well, if you can believe it, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex did not visit the English county of Sussex for the annual “Sussex Day” this week. They didn’t visit because A) they weren’t invited, B) they wouldn’t have had royal protection if they did visit and C) they’ve lived in America for the past five and a half years. Well, the county of Sussex is incandescent with rage!
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’.
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. That was the only time they visited together with Meghan spending around six hours there in her entire royal life.
“It is time we had a Duke of Sussex who has a genuine interest in our County”??? Again, this is not an elected position. It’s not like Harry is doing a bad job at being “Duke of Sussex” and he can be replaced or voted out. That’s not the way any of this works. I actually looked up a list of titles in abeyance, meaning unused titles which the monarch could technically “give” to anyone in the royal family – you don’t see anyone in Leeds crying about how there’s no Duke of Leeds right now, same the ducal titles of Clarence, Dorset, Bridgewater, Southampton, Portland, Cleveland and on and on. Sussex was a title which had not been in use since the 1840s when QEII dusted it off and gave it to Harry and Meghan. All of which to say, these people are running out of ways to throw tantrums about Harry and Meghan’s titles and their adopted surname. Unclench, for the love of God.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
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- ** RIGHTS: ONLY UNITED STATES, BRAZIL, CANADA ** London, UNITED KINGDOM – Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend a Women’s Empowerment reception during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at the Royal Aeronautical Society. Pictured: Meghan Markle, Prince Harry BACKGRID USA 19 APRIL 2018 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- ** RIGHTS: ONLY UNITED STATES, BRAZIL, CANADA ** London, UNITED KINGDOM – Meghan Markle attends a Women’s Empowerment reception during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at the Royal Aeronautical Society, London, UK. Pictured: Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 19 APRIL 2018 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- ** RIGHTS: ONLY UNITED STATES, BRAZIL, CANADA ** Chester, UNITED KINGDOM – Queen Elizabeth II and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend lunch as guests of Chester City Council in Chester, England. Meghan Markle married Prince Harry last month to become The Duchess of Sussex and this is her first engagement with the Queen. During the visit the pair opened a road bridge in Widnes and visited The Storyhouse in Chester. Pictured: Queen Elizabeth II, The Duchess of Sussex BACKGRID USA 14 JUNE 2018 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- ** RIGHTS: ONLY UNITED STATES, CANADA ** Sydney, AUSTRALIA – Prince Harry and pregnant Meghan Markle step out in Sydney for Day One of the royal tour of Australia. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 16 OCTOBER 2018 BYLINE MUST READ: MTRX / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- ** RIGHTS: ONLY UNITED STATES, CANADA ** Fua’amotu, FRENCH POYNESIA – A windswept Duchess of Sussex arrives with the Duke of Sussex in Tonga. The royal couple were met by Her Royal Highness, Princess Angelika Latufuipeka. Pictured: Duke of Sussex, Duchess of Sussex BACKGRID USA 24 OCTOBER 2018 BYLINE MUST READ: Vantagenews / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- ** RIGHTS: ONLY UNITED STATES, CANADA ** Sydney, AUSTRALIA – The Duke of Sussex and Duchess of Sussex watch the wheelchair basketball final, the last event at the Invictus Games 2018 in Sydney. Pictured: Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 26 OCTOBER 2018 BYLINE MUST READ: Vantagenews / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- ** RIGHTS: ONLY UNITED STATES, CANADA ** Sydney, AUSTRALIA – The Duke of Sussex and Duchess of Sussex watch the wheelchair basketball final, the last event at the Invictus Games 2018 in Sydney. Pictured: Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 26 OCTOBER 2018 BYLINE MUST READ: Vantagenews / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- ** RIGHTS: ONLY UNITED STATES ** Sydney, AUSTRALIA – The Royal tour of Australia comes to an end for HRH The Duke and Duchess of Sussex as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are pictured boarding their flight to New Zealand from Sydney. Pictured: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex BACKGRID USA 28 OCTOBER 2018 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- ** RIGHTS: WORLDWIDE EXCEPT IN NETHERLANDS ** Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA – Prince Harry Duke of Sussex and Meghan Duchess of Sussex meet Coastguard trained by Royal Marines at Kalk Bay, Cape Town. Pictured: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex BACKGRID USA 24 SEPTEMBER 2019 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
There’s a Sussex county in New Jersey
They could have gone there at least. It would have been a gesture.
A gesture of what? They already went there in 2018 when they received the titles. They’ve been Sussex ever since so what exactly is the recommended number of times or hours that they are to acknowledge Sussex? And why are they the only ones expected to go there when they 1) don’t live in the UK and 2) don’t have security while in the UK which is part of the reason for #1. Only one of the four Sussexes visits the UK and that’s limited, usually unannounced and for short periods of time with no details about where he’s staying. As I said before, I question anyone who wants them to visit a place that refuses to provide them security that they provide for everyone else that visits with credible threats against them.
@Nerd, I think @Preston was joking that visiting Sussex Co., NJ, would be a gesture of…whatever it is this no-longer-an-MP-for-Sussex dude wants them to do.
But if having the Duke and Duchess of Sussex visit actual Sussex is important to the people of Sussex (and I could see that, if there were similar expectations on all the dukes/duchesses to be involved with their duchies in some way. But I also firmly believe the Prince of Wales should speak Welsh!)…
…then it seems someone with actual authority (not this has-been quoted here) should reach out to the Sussexes and invite them, and make plans to have them visit? And those plans should absolutely involve travel and security logistics.
I bet if Sussex were to arrange for the safety and security of the Sussexes and properly host them, they’d be game to go.
We’ve seen time and again the Sussexes are enthusiastic, curious, engaged, generous people who are eager to help others; if this were something that would be meaningful to and benefit the everyday folks of Sussex and could be done with proper, adequate safety, they would probably be into it!
But no, this is just a publicity whinge from a salty guy who’s no longer in office anyway.
Sussex court of Montecito!
Ahahahhaha
We have three Sussex counties in the US. H&M could visit those and they’d have better security.
We have Sussex, New Brunswick. Mind you, we also have Sussex Insurance and Sussex Realty (which is HUGE!). They could pop up to Canada to celebrate Sussex Day!
The obvious solution is for Harry to buy some rundown properties in Sussex, move some elderly people in, and become a slumlord. Then they’ll fall over themselves to praise him, right? Seems to work for his brother.
Who is this irrelevant Tim Loughton (apart from being a failed politician)?
Someone who was prepared to take a back hander to say something nasty about Harry and Meghan.
A former Sussex conservative MP and current majoral candidate. Because apparently the current Sussex MP wouldn’t stoop to say something nasty.
I read about this earlier and it’s hilarious because I live in East Sussex and have done so since 2010. There are two counties, east and west and until today I had no idea that there was such a thing as a Sussex Day. I had to look it up. I don’t think anyone except for a few random towns celebrates Sussex Day. This is desperation writ large.
I lived in Brighton and Hove for years and I have never heard of it either.
I hate to be all “but what about…” but they do this every single day now so here goes “what about the fact that the Prince of Wales didn’t bother to learn Welsh or go to his investiture?” Anyone want to talk about that?? Didn’t think so.
Came here to post this. Charles learned Welsh so he could speak it at his investiture in 1969, which was a significant event attended by the late Queen and Prince Philip. William didn’t bother to have an investiture in 2022 let alone learn Welsh. Is George learning Welsh?
So should all dukes visit their counties? I doubt York wants a visit.
🤭 Too funny!
Actually York wants Andrew stripped of the York title.
The MP for York made the same kind of call for Andrew to be stripped of his dukedom. She attached herself to the prevailing outrage against Andrew to try to improve her standing with the electorate. Noble titles cannot be ‘stripped’ from any holder without an Act of Parliament. The existing law is the 1917 Act to remove British royal and noble titles from those foreign-born princes and nobles who had ‘adhered to the King’s enemies in a time of war’. In effect they were regarded as traitors. The British royal family at that time were of largely German descent and had a Germanic family name. They changed the name to Windsor.
Imagine the ridiculousness of writing to Parliament to strip people who live in another country for not visiting your county for a festival 🤣. I haven’t visited my hometown for the annual festival in decades, I wonder if they stripped my birthplace from my birth certificate because of the unforgivable betrayal 😂?
I love it. It’s such a ridiculous level of petty that it’s actually circled back into glory! Wow.
I’m actually in Sussex next week for the tennis, will keep an eye out for any neglected and despondent locals.
Ummmm and the Prince of Wales is right there 🤔🤔🤔
The titles the monarch usually bestows on a member of the royal family are titles that have been used in the past, such as Clarence. The rest aren’t titles used by the monarchy but bestowed on regular people, ennobling them.
And Cruella Carole is praying for Charles to croak asap so her malleable son in law can elevate her and family to “nobility” by granting grandparents, aunts and uncles one of those titles.
Et voilà… mission accomplished ( a far as Cruella Carole is concerned).
This is dumb and unhinged.
Had H&M actually adopted the county and perhaps bought a home there and gotten involved, imagine the outrage by the tabs , fed by briefings from the palaces about a “rival court” being established.
Sussex is lucky they got the one visit. Meghan wasn’t in the RF for even 2 years and during that time she had the Pacific tour, the South Africa tour and she had Archie, not to mention all of her other appearances.
Nice to know that Sussex has an non-existent unemployment rate, no housing or food insecurity issues, and no issues with crime that this is what an elected official could focus on. No wonder he’s a former MP if this is what he cares he about. I’m not from Sussex but I refuse to believe anyone living there ranks non attendance at Sussex Day as something high on their list of outrage.
The Fail did the impossible of surprising me with this ridiculously stupid article. I initially thought oh this is stupid because I assumed that they were complaining about Harry and Meghan not visiting Sussex county more than the one successful and well received time they did when they lived in the UK, but no these butt clenching people are complaining about people not visiting Sussex county this week even though they haven’t been working royals for more than five years and the UK is the most dangerous place for them without adequate security, which the UK refuses to offer to only the Sussexes. Nevermind that they spent six hours there immediately after their wedding. Forget the fact that the short time they were there as a working royal couple, Meghan had a solo train trip with the Queen, Harry was introducing her to the UK as a new UK resident, they had three extremely successful and productive Royal tours (Oceania, Morocco and South Africa) one of which also included the Invictus Games, Meghan took on new patronages for the Queen and her own personal ones as well as was pregnant and gave birth to Archie. They were also the President and Vice President of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust. Meghan also worked on the Together Cookbook as well as instrumental in the remodel of the Hubb Community Kitchen, guest edited the fastest selling issue of Vogue and spearheaded the Capsule Collection for Smartworks while Harry was working with Oprah for the mental health documentary for Apple TV, starting his development of Travalyst and still working on preparations for the next IG as well as WellChild, Heads Together and Scottie’s Little Soldiers. I’m missing so many other things that they both were still working on throughout that period of time before they left the UK. They also left the UK during a time just before Covid and had to start over completely without any support or help from anyone in the UK, including this former politician and the Fail who they’ve won court cases against and still have a case against.
Funny thing – Sussex was ranked at 78821 in the U.S.A. in 2020. That said, you can also find the surname Sussex in Canada.
https://www.houseofnames.com/sussex-history
Using Sussex as a surname is totally normal.
“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex can, and do, use the ‘surname’ Sussex. This is in line with the time when Prince Harry used Wales as his surname whilst serving in the army, to reflect that he was the son of the (then) Prince of Wales. Now that he is the Duke of Sussex, his wife and children can, and do, use Sussex as a surname.”
https://debretts.com/royal-family/the-royal-family/the-royal-surname/
I remember that the council in Sussex (not sure whether it was East or West) demanded that the Sussex title be stripped from Harry & Meghan and that they’d better not set foot in Sussex, ever. This was shortly after the wedding. The reason? Oh, something nebulous … etc. etc. not worthy … etc. she’s American … etc.
Lissen, YES. I was about to say, isn’t this whingeing MP one of the people who have habitually slagged off the Sussexes to the tabloids (= most of the UK media), expecially M, always demanding that their titles be stripped and claiming that “SHE” in particular, was unworthy of the title and “something something disrespected the royal family…etc.”?
So all of a sudden they want a piece of the Montecito Sussexes’ shine? Too bad, so sad. If they ever turned up you can bet your bottom dollar that these same people would be clutching their pearls and saying “How DARE they?!!!”
They wanted them gone from the UK, they left. They need to focus on the leftovers.
My husband’s last name is after a village in Scotland where his paternal ancestors lived. Some of those ancestors moved to Virginia in the 1600s. I married my husband 25 years ago and took his last name. Yet I’ve never visited that Scottish village even once. Now I know it’s because I have no respect for that village’s people or culture. I feel so ashamed. 😞 BRB I need to go change my name
I’m named after a village in Ireland my family came from – we’re indigenous to that village. My surname is all over Ireland and I haven’t been there either. My family – much later – also founded a small town in another country which I have been to a couple of times as we still own a large property there but really that’s the only reason.
They are insane, they have to be to print this absolute nonsense as news. Meghan and Harry’s “era of joy” has made them loose their minds completely over there.
Prince Peggy doesn’t even speak Welsh like STFU
So the Wales spend all of their weekends in Wales ? Those two bozos can’t even speak two words of Welsh properly. York is literally associated with a pedophile human trafficker but sure the Sussexes are the real problem here.