It seems even Oprah Winfrey isn’t above poking a little fun at her royal friends.
The 71-year-old media mogul — who famously hosted Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s explosive 2021 interview — made waves this week after offering a lighthearted jab at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex during a chat on Kelly Ripa’s podcast Let’s Talk Off Camera.
Recalling a recent Easter moment, Oprah shared a humorous story about the couple reaching out for help with, of all things, a group of lost ducklings.
“I got a call from Harry, Prince Harry, on Easter Saturday,” she said with a smile. “He said, ‘Sorry to bother you, O, but we have a duck problem here. Our pond is a stream, we don’t have a pond… can we bring the ducks over to your pond?’”
With Gayle King’s grandchildren visiting at the time, Oprah asked Harry to wait so the kids could see the ducks. But Harry reportedly replied, “No, we’re coming right away, we’re coming over!”
The story got plenty of laughs — but it didn’t end there.
After telling the duck tale, the conversation drifted to Easter traditions like gifting baby chicks. Ripa jokingly asked if Oprah would want any, prompting Oprah’s quick reply: “I’d run them straight to the Sussexes.”
Then came the subtle dig: Oprah deliberately stretched and slurred the pronunciation of “Sussex,” turning it into a playful exaggeration of the tricky-sounding title. While the tone was clearly in jest, many listeners took notice of the way she lingered on the name, seemingly poking fun at its royal weight.
Where “Sussex” really stands in Harry and Meghan’s life
Though Oprah’s comments were made with affection, they land at an interesting time — especially considering how seriously Meghan and Harry have embraced “Sussex” as their family name.
Earlier this year, Meghan confirmed to PEOPLE Magazine that she, Harry, and their children — Archie, 6, and Lilibet, 4 — had quietly adopted the surname Sussex in daily life. The name was originally gifted by Queen Elizabeth II on their wedding day in 2018.
“It’s our shared name as a family,” Meghan said. “And I guess I hadn’t recognised how meaningful that would be to me until we had children.”
She reinforced that sentiment in her Netflix series As Ever, Meghan, where she corrected actress Mindy Kaling for referring to her as “Markle.”
“You know I’m Sussex now,” Meghan told her. “You have kids and you go, ‘No, I share my name with my children.’”
Whether Oprah’s pronunciation tease was just playful ribbing or a subtle critique of how seriously the couple takes their title, one thing’s clear: even among close friends, the royals’ rebranding efforts aren’t going unnoticed.