Was the Duchess of Sussex welcomed to the set with her royal title?

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry visit the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne on April 14, 2026.Credit : Jonathan Brady / POOL / AFP via Getty

NEED TO KNOW

Meghan Markle was introduced in a royal way during a teaser of her upcoming appearance on MasterChef Australia
Queen Elizabeth conferred the royal titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Prince Harry and Meghan when they wed in 2018
Exclusively speaking to PEOPLE in 2025, Meghan spoke about how Sussex is “our shared name as a family”

Meghan Markle made an entrance on MasterChef Australia with a royal twist.

On April 15, Australia’s 10 News revealed that the Duchess of Sussex, 44, will make an appearance on MasterChef Australia as a guest judge, tapping into her passion for food and cooking.

The outlet said that Meghan filmed her appearance in Melbourne on Wednesday and surprised contestants, and a preview of her cameo showed the royal way she was introduced on set.

“We’ve had MasterChef royalty in the kitchen before, but nothing like this,” judge Poh Ling Yeow said in a preview shared to Instagram.

“All the way from sunny California, please welcome to MasterChef Australia...the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle!” she continued.

The Duchess of Sussex filmed her MasterChef episode during her trip to Australia this week with her husband, Prince Harry, and Yeow introduced her on set by her royal title and maiden name. It wasn’t the only time their names came up during the visit Down Under.

At the Australian National Veterans’ Art Museum on Tuesday, Australia’s first poet laureate Steve Cotterill asked the pair, “How would you like me to address you?” The Telegraph reported.

“However you like,” Prince Harry said, and Meghan suggested, “Call me Meg?” — one of her nicknames used by family and friends.

The protocol around the couple’s names also came up during their first stop at Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, a leading pediatric care center that the late Queen Elizabeth, King Charles and Princess Diana have also visited.

The outlet reported that staff at the hospital asked an aide how Harry and Meghan should be addressed, and he said, “Harry and Meghan is fine. They’re pretty relaxed.”

It was also announced on April 14 that Meghan has joined the AI-powered fashion discovery platform OneOff as a participant and investor, where her name is on its homepage as Meghan. A click into her verified profile lists her as both Meghan and Duchess of Sussex.

Meghan Markle on the set of “MasterChef Australia.”.Endemol Shine Australia, a Banijay Entertainment company. Photographer Kelly Gardner

Queen Elizabeth conferred Prince Harry, 41, and Meghan with the titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex upon their royal wedding day in 2018, and they retained that styling after stepping back from their royal roles in the U.K. in 2020.

Their children are listed as Prince Archie of Sussex and Princess Lilibet of Sussex in the official line of succession to the throne, and Meghan previously opened up to PEOPLE about the weight of her family name.

“It’s our shared name as a family, and I guess I hadn’t recognized how meaningful that would be to me until we had children,” she told PEOPLE in an exclusive cover story in 2025. “I love that that is something that Archie, Lili, H and I all have together. It means a lot to me.”

Prince Harry, Prince Archie, Princess Lilibet and Meghan Markle in their 2025 holiday card.Meghan, Duchess of Sussex/Instagram

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Before she got married, the Duchess of Sussex went by her maiden last name of Markle, and she corrected Mindy Kaling when she called her Meghan Markle during a season 1 episode of With Love, Meghan about her name today.

The subject came up as they spoke about foods they ate when they were younger, and Kaling said, “People wouldn’t believe that Meghan Markle ate at Jack in the Box.”

“It’s so funny, too, that you keep saying ‘Meghan Markle.’ You know I’m ‘Sussex’ now,” said Meghan.

“You have kids, and you go, ‘No, I share my name with my children,’ ” she emphasized. “I didn’t know how meaningful that would be to me, but it just means so much to go, ‘This is our family name, our little family name.’ “

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Meghan and Prince Harry hit the ground in Australia on April 14 for a four-day trip mixing private, business and philanthropic engagements, and the Duchess of Sussex introduced herself in a low-key way to well-wishers on their first day away.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle meet children and families at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia on April 14, 2026.Asanka Ratnayake/Getty

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s ongoing trip to Oz brings them back to the continent for the first time in eight years. They last traveled there in 2018 for their first official joint royal tour as newlyweds, before stepping back from their royal roles two years later.

Meghan’s episode is not available yet, as the new season of MasterChef Australia kicks off on Sunday, April 19. A passionate cook, the Duchess of Sussex has highlighted her love of food, dining and entertaining across her original lifestyle blog “The Tig” and appeared as a guest judge on a 2016 episode of Food Network’s Chopped Junior, most recently exploring her culinary loves through her lifestyle series With Love, Meghan on Netflix in 2025 and through the food products from her As ever brand.