Meghan Markle has been slammed for making an “extraordinary” mistake about her royal title after demanding that guests on her Netflix series use her “real” surname of Sussex. The Duchess, whose second series of Netflix‘s With Love, Meghan, debuted on the streaming platform this week, has been vocal about her surname being Sussex rather than Markle after marrying Prince Harry – going so far as to correct actress Mindy Kaling in an early episode of the show.

In a new interview with journalist Emily Chang, Meghan confirmed that her legal name is now Meghan, Duchess of Sussex – but a seasoned royal commentator said the statement laid bare an “extraordinary” error on her part and offered insight into her views on the royal family. “This is extraordinary and I want to know exactly who it is that is schooling her,” CNN royal commentator Victoria Arbiter said. “Because she insists on saying that her legal name is ‘Meghan, Duchess of Sussex’, but actually, to the royal boffins out there, they’ll know that that denotes a royal divorcee.”

Ms Chang pointed to the post-divorce titles of Diana, Princess of Wales and Sarah, Duchess of York as evidence of the royal family custom.

“It’s extraordinary that [Meghan] is opting to go with that, because she’s not a divorcee,” she told the Australian lifestyle network 9Honey.

Reflecting on Meghan’s attachment to her royal title, Ms Chang added: “It’s kind of all she has that people are really interested in.

“It always comes back to the royal in-laws. It always comes back to that royal life, and it’s because that’s their biggest cash cow to milk.”

It comes after King Charles’s second cousin Lord Ivar Mountbatten hit out at Meghan’s claim that ‘Sussex’ was the surname she and Harry used for their children – suggesting the family should go by the traditional ‘Mountbatten-Windsor’ moniker instead.

“It’s interesting because she’s completely incorrect,” he told Town and Country Magazine. “They are the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, but actually he’s Harry Mountbatten-Windsor and she would be Meghan Mountbatten-Windsor.”