Prince Harry defended after Meghan Markle reveals husband's 'cringe' nickname
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been defended by fans after she shared a post revealing his nickname.
The Duchess of Sussex, 44, took to Instagram on Sunday (8 March), where she uploaded a sweet tribute to her daughter, Princess Lilibet, in celebration of International Women's Day.
The photo in question showed Meghan and her four-year-old cuddled up, sitting on a sunny beach.
She captioned the sweet post: "For the woman she will one day be…
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"Happy International Women’s Day."
Meghan then gave photo credits to 'Papa Sussex', referring to her husband, Harry, 41.
It didn't take long for critics to flock to social media, seemingly up in arms over Meghan's International Women's Day post and caption, with many outraged over the 'Papa Sussex' moniker.
One critic hit out: "Papa Sussex? Really??"
"Papa Sussex? They really know how to be cloying and insufferable. Meghan pushing the use of Sussex again," seethed a second, as a third piped up: "Can this woman stop with the cheap teases?? 'Papa Sussex'?? They’re both jokers!"
"Papa Sussex. So cringe," fumed a fourth.
And a fifth penned: "I wonder why she has to refer to her husband as Papa Sussex when taking photos of their children. Why not say that he’s daddy?
"Will the children call their father their papa Sussex?"
It didn't take long, however, for fans to rush in and defend the mum-of-two from the anti-Meghan brigade, with a sixth person writing: "They call him Papa, just like many British kids do. Adding the Sussex at the end is to distinguish Harry from Papa, his dad, King Charles, because Harry calls his dad Papa.
"It’s no different than when we refer to our parents as Grandad (Paternal last name) and Grandad (maternal last name). It was done for the photo caption. The kids call him Papa."
Another urged: "Here's an idea: if you dislike these two so much, skip over every story that mentions them. To constantly leave negativity on every comment section regarding the two is extremely unhinged and a poor use of your time.
"Someone stated they prefer Kate and family, and I'm just like, why don't you just stay toward those articles instead? Because it makes too much sense and sounds like you have some degree of emotional regulation?"
And a final person echoed: "Why are you so bothered?"
As many royal fans will know, there's been quite the discourse online when it comes to the Duchess of Sussex's official title after she and Harry stepped down as working senior royals back in 2020.
Meghan has previously opened up about the personal significance of the family-of-four all having the same surname.
In an episode of the debut Netflix series of With Love, Meghan, she explained to her friend Mindy Kaling more about her choice of surname.
"I don't think anyone in the world knows that Meghan Markle has eaten Jack In The Box and loves it," Mindy said in response to an admission Meghan made about eating the takeout food.
Meghan pointed out that she found it 'funny' that Mindy called her 'Meghan Markle'.
"It's so funny you keep saying Meghan Markle, you know I'm Sussex now," she explained. "You have kids and you go 'No, I share my name with my children'.
"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.'"
Speaking on YouTube's The Circle with Emily Chang, Meghan shared why it's such a 'complicated' sitch for people to wrap their heads around.
"Well, when I got married, I changed my name. But it is a complicated one for people to understand because a last name is not typical in that construct," she explained, prompting the host to press if 'Sussex' really was her last name.
Putting an end to the online chatter once and for all, the As Ever founder confirmed: "It's not, but it's used loosely or roughly rather. It sounds so silly to say and I get it 'cos I'm American and then I went there and I started to understand, then you come back and as an American, you go 'I'm so confused'.
"It's a dukedom - and that's the truth of it. But at the end of the day, yes, my legal name is Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, but Sussex works for us as our family name and it is the name we share with our children. But yes, since we've been married that's what I've been called."
Tyla has reached out to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's representatives for comment.
Topics: Prince Harry, Royal Family, UK News, Meghan Markle
Rhiannon Ingle