By Michele Yeo
“We’re not in the pursuit of perfection, we’re in the pursuit of joy,” says Meghan Markle in one of the episodes of her new lifestyle series With Love, Meghan, now streaming on Netflix. How much “joy” you get from the eight-episode series will definitely depend on if you’re a fan of Meghan Markle, or Meghan Sussex as our hostess tells friend Mindy Kaling in another episode, she no longer goes by Markle.
Each episode of the series, Meghan’s first solo piece of content for Netflix, features the duchess welcoming a guest, whether a longtime friend like makeup artist Daniel Martin, a new acquaintance like Kaling who she met on her Archetypes podcast, or someone she’s admired from afar like noted LA chefs Roy Choi and Alice Waters, dropping by the set (the series is filmed in a rented house, not at Meghan and Harry’s real life home for privacy reasons) where Meghan invites them to make beautiful and intricate creations together, whether it’s dishes like Korean fried chicken, pasta, crepes, quiche, elaborate rainbow fruit boards and crudites, or decorative items like beeswax candles or balloon arches and gift bags for a children’s party. No detail is too big or small for Meghan who says, “love is in the details. If you take just a little bit of time it will be recognized and appreciated.” In the first episode we get a glimpse of what being an overnight guest at her home would be like as Meghan prepares a welcome tray full of freshly cut flowers, homemade bath salts, and various snacks for a guests’ bedside table. “The joy of hostessing for me, is surprising people with moments that let them know I was really thinking of their whole experience from morning until evening,” she says.
While some may see With Love, Meghan as the “Martha Stewartification” of the duchess, others will recall Meghan’s first foray into the world of lifestyle content creation was her former blog, The Tig which she ran for years before shuttering in 2017 when she became engaged to Harry. It’s clear entertaining is where Meghan thrives but whether audiences will find With Love, Meghan entertaining will again, depend on whether Meghan is your cup of tea. And yes, Meghan does also make a delicious cup of tea as she demonstrates by brewing a concoction of fresh mint picked from the garden, honey from her beehive combined with lemon, turmeric, ginger, and cayenne.
But that’s the only tea you can expect from the series as Meghan rarely gets personal. Sure, there are tiny glimpses into her life, like her revealing she was “a latch key kid” growing up in LA or that Harry, “no matter what meal is put in front of him, before he tastes it, puts salt on it,” or why she goes by Meghan Sussex: “you have kids and you go, ‘no, I share my name with my children,” adding “I didn’t know how meaningful it would be to me, but it just means so much to go, ‘this is our little family name.” But if you’re looking for the same kind of royal tea that was spilled in 2022’s Harry and Meghan which also streamed on Netflix, you may be disappointed. Harry, along with Meghan’s mother Doria, only makes a brief cameo appearance in the show’s final episode when Meghan throws a beautiful backyard brunch for friends and family to celebrate what she calls “this next chapter of my life.” Harry raises a glass “to you” he cheers his wife. This next chapter to which Meghan refers is the launch of her brand, As Ever. “And here we go, it’s a business!” she proclaims. And in that moment, we are reminded that Meghan is, in fact, hard launching a business which makes certain parts of the seven episodes preceding the finale start to make a lot more sense – like Meghan’s insistence on adding edible flower glitter to many of her dishes. Just hours after the series dropped on Netflix, a press release went out to media announcing “Meghan, Duchess of Sussex Unveils As Ever, A New Brand of Gourmet and Lifestyle Products.” The subheading of the release reads, “developed in partnership with Netflix, the initial collection will launch in Spring 2025” and that collection includes, you may have guessed, those ubiquitous flower sprinkles and various flavours of tea along with other products like the fruit preserves Meghan had announced earlier.
So, is With Love, Meghan, really a celebration of, and a (beautifully handwritten) love letter to the beauty and joy of cooking, gardening, and hosting? Or is it an eight-episode soft sell infomercial for As Ever? It’s probably both a dash of column A and a sprinkle of column B, to be honest. As ever, capitalism reigns supreme, but hey, if it’s good enough for Martha, why shouldn’t it be good enough for Meghan? And, as Beyonce’s husband once told us, “you can’t knock the hustle.”
With Love, Meghan is now streaming on Netflix.
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