So Many Thoughts on Meghan’s New Netflix Show
What to expect from ‘With Love, Meghan,’ what you won’t see in the series, and five things I learned about the Duchess of Sussex.
In the seventh episode of With Love, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex spoons homemade preserves, first berry and then apricot, into small marble bowls. “It’s always nice to decant your condiments,” she says. “You don’t need to have a large jar sitting in the middle of a beautiful tablescape.” Meghan then tucks the palm-sized containers, along with strawberries and sprigs of mint, into a basket of store-bought croissants. “All of this is about how you can take something that is everyday,” she adds, “and elevate it just a little bit.”
This weekend I watched all of Meghan’s new Netflix series, escaping from the tumult of the real world into a bright, airy kitchen somewhere in Montecito. Over eight episodes, the duchess breezily puts her own stamp on the ever-evolving lifestyle category, offering up a unique combination of effort and ease. Hers is not one of precision or perfection, but rather a gentle coaxing to try something new: Make that vinaigrette at home, arrange those flowers yourself. There are layers here, catering to a variety of skill sets. Will I make kimchi from scratch or salt bake branzino? Probably not. But can I spoon something from a less-pretty container into a nicer one? Absolutely.
For royal watchers, it’s a fresh look at the duchess. The narrative around Meghan has been squarely focused on struggles and challenges for many years now. This is a new chapter or perhaps a reprise, one that readers of her popular site The Tig will surely recognize. She pulls fresh produce from her abundant garden, pops chilled bottles of champagne, and laughs with her friends. As someone who is admittedly not a foodie, it’s this look at the duchess that was the main draw for me. These eight episodes serve as a sort of extended character study, a chance to watch her do what she loves in a safe, stress-free environment.
Below — without spoiling anything for those of you who will be watching! — what you can expect from the show, what you won’t see, and five things I learned about Meghan.
Questions for me about With Love, Meghan? Pop them in the comments, I am happy to answer what I can.
💭 Stay Tuned: ‘With Love’ Discussion Threads
I can’t wait to hear what YOU think of With Love, Meghan. Beginning Tuesday, I will be sending out newsletters where we can discuss the series on an episode-by-episode basis. FWIW, I watched all eight episodes over the weekend, which felt a bit like bingeing at a buffet. I would recommend an approach that’s more about savoring one or two at a time. Also, I am told that recipes will be available on Netflix’s site. Should we try to make a few? I may have to enlist my husband, who is the culinary talent in our home…
These discussion threads will be open to paid subscribers. Consider upgrading today for $5 a month and join in, we would love to have you. Thank you so much for your support.
PS: More to come! Meghan’s As Ever products will launch this spring. In an interview with People magazine, the duchess shared that a new podcast, her first with Lemonada Media, is coming soon, too.
So Many Thoughts on ‘With Love, Meghan’
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Before I dive into what I learned about the Duchess of Sussex from watching her show, a look at what to expect from the show and what you won’t see (no royal bombshells here).
What to expect from Meghan’s Netflix show
At its core, With Love, Meghan is a cooking show. Set in the relaxed, rarefied world of Montecito, Meghan moves through the eight episodes cooking for (and with) her friends, as well as learning new from respected chefs. Having successfully run her lifestyle blog The Tig for many years, this sort of thing is clearly Meghan’s happy place; on screen, when she gets excited about how something tastes or looks, she does a little dance. Each episode is a series of creations — mostly food focused, but with other domains of a domestic goddess incorporated, too — building towards a moment when Meghan and her guest(s) enjoy what they have made.
With Love, Meghan does not take place at Meghan and Harry’s home but rather in a nearby rental. The duchess is seen mostly in the property’s two kitchens and the surrounding, S-T-U-N-N-I-N-G yard. When she does venture out, it is in service of whatever she is making. We join her while tending to her bees, taking a hike in the oceanside cliffs, stopping by a flower store teeming with blooms, and harvesting her own berry-filled garden.
This is, admittedly, an idyllic spot in the world, which so few get to see. She tries throughout the series to parachute back to a more relatable place, before her royal tenure or her seven seasons starring on Suits. She shares a few fun stories, reminiscing about from her childhood TV dinners or bartending in Chicago. But With Love, Meghan is an invitation to her life at present, one that is far more aspirational than accessible. The produce is abundant and always perfectly ripe, the contents of the refrigerator beautifully styled. Meghan’s clothing meets this moment, serving a cornucopia of looks in her signature neutral linens and knits.
Still, there is a welcome intimacy thanks to the on-going conversational nature in each episode, not just between Meghan and her guests but with the duchess and the crew. She often breaks what is known as the fourth wall, speaking to the line-up of camera operators, techs, and producers joining her in the room. We see them, and their big smiles, thanks to very quick pans when Meghan offers them coffee or a taste of the dish du jour. We hear them, too, like when someone quips: “Check the burner, oh Lordy!” as milk began to froth over behind her. “I bet it’s good,” Meghan says, giving it a taste. It’s an unexpected, humanizing choice that makes the show feel more informal and gives viewers a place at the table.
What you won’t see on ‘With Love, Meghan’
This is not a look at Meghan’s personal life. There are no bombshells about her royal tenure or much mention about that time in her life at all. There are the occasional, albeit vague, hints at it, like when she sums up her friendship with Daniel Martin: “He has just been in my life for the before, during and after, shall we say.” On the whole, this show is the definition of light and bright. Any chatter beyond food is prompted largely by her guests, which come mostly from her inner Montecito circle. (Actress Mindy Kaling is probably the biggest name; Abigail Spencer from Suits is also featured.)
Meghan offers tiny glimpses into family life, which I am sure will be some of the biggest headlines. Harry, Archie, and Lilibet come up often but less so by name, instead referred to as “my kids” or “my daughter.” The only thing I recall hearing about Harry, or “H” as Meghan calls him, is he makes great scrambled eggs. He plays the part of the very supportive husband, but only appears in the final minutes of the last episode. She also gently corrects Kaling when she refers to her as Meghan Markle. “You know I’m Sussex now,” she says, explaining how much she values sharing a name with her children. “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.”
With Love, Meghan is also not about the very serious issues facing the wider world right now. It was clearly shot last year, before the current political climate took hold. We know the duchess cares deeply about many complex topics, speaking out through the couple’s Archewell Foundation on things like internet safety and the importance of vaccines. Her Archetypes podcast addressed damaging stereotypes and language directed at women. I fully expect Meghan to continue speaking up in the future — but that’s not for this show. With Love, Meghan is a reminder that joy is its own form of resistance, as is an embrace of ease.
Five Things I Learned About Meghan From Her New Netflix Show
The Duchess of Sussex is a total foodie
Which we knew! But this series underscores it in a much more tangible way. While Meghan’s other talents are sprinkled throughout, including flower arranging and gift wrapping, food is the focal point for each episode. There are more approachable dishes, including simple salads and pastas, along with a charcuterie board and multiple crudité platters. But the duchess gamely tackles complicated tasks like parboiling chicken in a milk-beer-citrus brine. Throughout the series, she drops little details to reinforce her culinary interests, like how her mom bought her a food dehydrator one Christmas or how on her counter at home she has a row of flax seeds, hemp hearts, and chia seeds. “It’s like, which can I sprinkle into the kids’ pancakes or in a salad?”
In With Love, Meghan, the duchess is both the teacher and the student, helping pass along her kitchen skills to friends and then up her own game by learning from established chefs. The former is very casual and conversational. She is an excellent narrator, explaining as she goes. “Put olive oil on them to help them not stick,” Meghan tells her friends, Abigail Spencer of Suits and Kelly McKee Zajfen, co-founder of Alliance of Moms, as she coats tomatoes still on the vine before putting them into the oven. “They’ll shrink down,” Meghan continues, “and all the sweetness is going to come out.”
But Meghan is at her most excited when she is learning from established names in the culinary world. “I am so happy you are here! Roy Choi is here!” she says, her fists pumping above her head in celebration as the chef enters. Together with Choi, a Los Angeleno known for reinventing the modern food truck movement, Meghan learns to pickle strawberries and make Korean-style fried chicken. The duchess is positively smitten in the presence of Alice Waters, the famed chef behind Chez Panisse featured in the final episode. “I feel like you are watching me fall in love,” Meghan says as they put together a quiche and a salad of simple greens. “I am so sorry, I am blushing.” The duchess also shares how she bought a lidded copper pot for her composting because that’s what Waters has. It’s fun to see Meghan starstruck.
Meghan cares a lot about how things look
Her passion for food is matched by her commitment to how it is presented. Meghan takes great care in assembling and assorting what she has made. “This is my favorite part, the plating,” she tells Ramon Velazquez, a celebrated chef in Santa Barbara. “It’s so amazing when food can be art.” The series is awash in close-up shots of Meghan’s manicured hands placing and sprinkling and angling things just so.
Part of her interest is practical, particularly when it comes to her kids: “You eat with your eyes first” is a sentiment she shares more than once. Vegetables are more fun, she contends, when the platter looks inviting.
More broadly, it’s proof of her eye. In the second episode, she and Kaling put together a Pinterest-worthy garden tea party complete with lady-bug-styled Caprese sandwiches and a fruit salad assorted in a rainbow. “Are you kidding me?” Kaling says, mouth agape, as Meghan presents the colorful platter. “It’s just fruit, it’s just presented in a different way,” the duchess says. Then — and you know I loved this — she equates it to putting together an outfit. “You have great fashion and style, so you know,” Meghan says. “You can have the base of something or you can style it in a certain way.”
The duchess is a big fan of finishing touches, too. She liberally adds flower sprinkles — dried, tiny, edible petals — to salads, donuts, cookies, anything. (Will these be part of the As Ever assortment? My prediction is yes.) Meghan often adds a sprig of whatever is in reach to whatever is in front of her, be it her gift wrapping or a set of chilled lavender towels.
She takes her role as hostess to heart
Meghan is all about welcoming her guests. Every episode begins with her preparing something for the person who is about to join her. She makes raspberry preserves and dog biscuits for Delfina Blaquier, photographer and wife of polo player Nacho Figueras, and a harvest basket of fruits and vegetables for Vicky Tsai, founder of the skincare brand Tatcha. It’s less about etiquette and more about a feeling; there is a palpable surprise and delight reaction from each guest, which seems to put them at ease. None of this is required, it’s just…really nice?
Ahead of a mahjong gathering in the sixth episode, Meghan makes cocktails in mason jars. Together with Tracy Robbins, the designer married to Paramount CEO Brian Robbins, they devise custom versions of margaritas for the other two women joining them: Victoria Jackson and Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, co-founders of Godmothers bookstore. One is more spicy, another lighter on alcohol, etc. “I love how you make drinks for all of us, it’s so sweet,” Robbins says with a laugh. “I would just say everybody gets beer.”
In the first episode, she prepares for Daniel Martin’s arrival with a tray of goodies for his bedside table. Along with a custom bath salt mix and small vase of flowers, there are two bags of “nibbles.” One is popcorn she made directly from a cob, the other is peanut butter pretzels she bought at the store. “This,” she says holding up the bag (I shrieked, because I buy the same ones at Trader Joe’s), “we’re just going to put into a little bag.”
Meghan is careful, but not fussy.
Meghan clearly comes from the Ina Garten school of thought: “Store-bought is fine.” Much of what she does on the show is made from scratch or pulled from her garden, but there are pre-made things scattered throughout. In the penultimate episode, Meghan makes dumpling filling; on the advice of Tsai, she uses premade wrappers. “Just because you can’t do everything, it doesn’t mean you don’t want to do some things,” she says. The occasional assist feels like a little exhale, keeping the show more relatable (and from veering into trad-wife territory). “We’re both working moms, I think it’s really important,” Tsai says, to which Meghan interjects. “To find the balance.”
Even with what she does make, Meghan is not overly particular. “I just eyeball it,” she says when a friend adds honey into a vinaigrette. She prefers her lettuce hand torn and her vegetables in artful, not precise, piles. “This is imperfect,” she says, waving her hand over a platter. (I did note, however, Meghan is quite tidy. She comments more than once about how she likes to keep her workstation clean.)
Fashion is part of Meghan’s food story
Indulge me here for a second, but the fashion? It’s very good. I need to go back and revisit each of the looks, because each episode has multiple outfits. I loved these continual changes as a way to differentiate moments. She has a whole range here, from bias cut maxi dresses to a Northwestern sweatshirt and skinny jeans. The garden clogs, the aprons, even the oven mitts — everything caught my eye.
Fashion becomes a talking point on occasion, too. Kaling asks her about her “lewk” in episode two, pronouncing it in such a way that Meghan says, “My who?!” Kaling slaps her hand on the counter: “Your look, Meghan!” They both laugh before Kaling adds, “Your fashion is one of my favorite things…can you tell me about your clothes?” (On behalf of the fashion girlies, we thank you, Mindy.)
“I like high-low,” Meghan says. “Zara,” she adds, placing her hands on her white pleated trousers. “Loro Piana,” she continues, moving her hands to her knitted top. “Jenni Kayne,” she finishes, adjusting the sweater over her shoulders.
One thing that really struck me was how Meghan dresses for her guests. All of her looks feel very much in her style story that we all recognize by now — relaxed, tailored separates, lots of neutral tones, easy fabrics, a dash of volume — but every is also slightly geared toward the person she is hosting. With her girlfriends, she chose an ivory knit top and satin skirt. For Roy Choi, she dons faded black skinny jeans. It feels very much in the spirit of how she welcomes people, putting in a little extra thought.
I must stop now! And you must go and watch. With Love, Meghan hits Netflix Tuesday, March 4. I will be back in your inboxes soon with discussion threads geared toward more episode-specific chatter. Comments, thoughts, questions? Pop them in the comments.
Am I considering taking a mental health day tomorrow to binge the show? Yes, yes I am.
This makes me so excited! I desperately need something light, bright and totally breezy in this chaotic world, and this shows seems like it will fill that purpose. I’m so glad Meghan is able to reconnect to her roots, because as a Tig girl once upon a time, I’m so so excited!