Meghan’s ‘new chapter’ Netflix lifestyle show faces savage criticism

By Laura Elston and Tony Jones, PA Court Staff

The Duchess of Sussex celebrated a “new chapter” as her lifestyle series finally hit Netflix, telling friends and family it was “just part of that creativity that I’ve missed so much”.

With Love, Meghan launched on the streaming platform on Tuesday after being delayed from January because of the Los Angeles wildfires.

But the eight-part series, which sees the former Suits actress give hosting tips and cooking with her celebrity friends, has been savaged by critics.

One review in The Guardian described it as a “gormless lifestyle filler” and “so pointless it might be the Sussexes’ last TV show”, while The Telegraph gave it two stars and branded it “insane” and an “exercise in narcissism”.

At one point, Meghan says: “Has anyone in the world ever been so tickled by the sight of lettuces?” as she watches chef Alice Waters fill a bowl with salad leaves.

Markle also remarks as she eats a raw turnip “I feel like you’re watching me falling in love”, and refers to a cake as “she” before saying “Good night sweetheart” as she puts it in the oven.

Prince Harry makes just one appearance at the end of the final episode when he joins Meghan, her mother Doria Ragland and friends for an outdoor celebratory brunch.

In what is likely to be seen as a nod to the restrictions she felt within the royal family, Meghan raises a toast, saying: “This feels like a new chapter that I’m so excited that I get to share and I’ve been able to learn from all of you.

“So I just thank you for all the love and support.

“And here we go, there’s a business. All of that is just part of that creativity that I’ve missed so much, so thank you for loving me so much and celebrating with me.”

Meghan had asked Harry as they hugged: “It’s good, right?”. He replies: “Well done. You did a great job… I love it.”

A post shared by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (@meghan)

Meghan, one of the executive producers of the series, talks in a voiceover about “reconnecting with myself and just learning, right?”.

“Like I’ve always been curious, sharing all those discoveries and everything I love with the people that I love, it just brings me so much joy… Can’t end on a better note than that,” she says.

Meghan uses flower sprinkles and hemp seed hearts as her go-to garnishes, and “sweet”, ”beautiful”, “pretty”, “delicious” and “gorgeous” are some of the most repeated words used by both the hostess and her guests.

She also suggests people living in a “little flat in London” can have “some small piece” of her Californian lifestyle.

She tells Waters: “People would watch this and go, ‘But I don’t have all this space at home’.

“That’s why I think the value of what you’ve done, with the idea of urban farming or even if you’re just in a little flat in London or small apartment in the city, what people can do to make them feel that they have some small piece of this.”

The show is being viewed as a make-or-break moment for the Sussexes, who signed a multimillion-pound deal with Netflix in 2020, with their most successful output being their controversial Harry & Meghan documentary, which features accusations against the royal family.

Meghan reveals how her numbered homemade jam caused some friction with her celebrity friends.

“It was not a ranking, it was just ‘let me share them’ and then people started to take it very personally,” she says.

Actress and comedian Mindy Kaling tells her in a light-hearted exchange: “(I went) straight up on Instagram. I’m looking to see who the other people are, and I’m zooming in to see what numbers they have.”

Meghan says she saved the number one jar for her mother.

The duchess told Kaling that she was a “latch-key kid” and “grew up with a lot of fast food and also a lot of TV tray dinners”.

And she speaks with pride about being a Sussex, telling Kaling: “You keep saying, Meghan Markle, you know, I’m Sussex now.

“You have kids, and you go, ‘now 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’.”

Meghan, who faced criticism over authenticity for hosting the show from a Californian farmhouse rather than her Montecito mansion, acknowledges she is not filming inside her own home as she makes a tray of treats for friend, make up artist Daniel Martin.

“This isn’t my house. Daniel’s gonna be staying at my house but I’m gonna prep everything here as I would at home and then bring it back to my house so I can have it there for him,” she says.

She also gives a few glimpses into her life with her children Prince Archie, five, and three-year-old Princess Lilibet.

Archie caught two trout while fishing on holiday, Lili helped make a batch of Meghan’s strawberry jam and both children “love eating vegetables”, Meghan says.

And she said her rescue beagle Guy, who appeared in the series but has since died, has a “lot of stories to tell” after moving with her to the UK and back again when she quit the working monarchy for a new life in the US.

In an episode featuring chef Roy Choi, the pair cook Korean dishes and Choi includes the flavour enhancer MSG (monosodium glutamate) in a fried chicken dish.

Meghan talks about people ordering ‘no MSG’ food in the 90s and early 2000s, adding: “I don’t know quite how that happened.”

The chef replies: “Do you want to know the real reason, racist, it’s racist against Asians.”

He adds: “It’s not any different than bouillon powder, it exists in all of the fast food that America was raised on. What we have now is this more democratic food culture where information can be accessed and you don’t see any young people saying MSG gets you sick anymore, right?”

Meghan replied: “I’m glad we’ve evolved in that way.”

She renamed her lifestyle brand As Ever, switching from the name American Riviera Orchard just weeks before the launch after facing trademarking setbacks, with Netflix now a new partner in her business.

As Ever trademark applications include a vast range of products from shower gels, incense, pet shampoo and gardening trowels to cutlery, stationery, diaries, paper party decorations, wrapping paper, ornamental non-precious stones, bird houses, honey stirrers, jams, marmalades and tea sets.

Before marrying Harry, Meghan closed down her lifestyle website called The Tig.