The Netflix trailer for the second season of Meghan Markle’s much-discussed show, With Love, Meghan, was released today, just hours after she and Prince Harry secured a new, reduced deal with the streaming service.

The Duchess of Sussex’s lifestyle program, which features her hosting guests in a leased property close to her Montecito estate for privacy, is set to return on August 26, coinciding with Netflix’s decision to ease its connection with the couple.

With Love, Meghan was commissioned for another season as soon as the first season launched in March. It is reported that all episodes were filmed simultaneously. 

Guests on season two will include Chrissy Teigan and Jamie Kern Lima, the trailer revealed today. 

In the brief trailer, lasting one minute and 27 seconds, Meghan is seen enjoying cheese, preparing food and drinks with friends, and even disclosing Prince Harry’s food dislikes. 

‘Do you know who doesn’t like lobster? My husband,’ she says as she prepares the seafood. 

As the food-filled trailer comes to an end, Meghan reveals: ‘I love these moments of discovery and beauty. So let’s be curious together.’ 

The show struggled to enter Netflix’s top 300 shows in the first half of 2025 and was outperformed by several seasons of Suits. An insider at Netflix reportedly described the viewership numbers as ‘dismal’.

Meghan has also recorded a Christmas special, scheduled to air in December, potentially overlapping with the Princess of Wales’ traditional carol concert at Westminster Abbey. 

The first series showed the former Suits star, 44, inviting friends and famous guests to a California estate, where she shared cooking, gardening and hosting tips.

But it was panned by many reviewers who called it ‘sensationally absurd and trite’ with the Duchess of Sussex called ‘tone-deaf’ and punting a show that ‘vibrates with vacuous joylessness’. 

It has an IMDB rating of 3.2 out of 10 and a 38% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, indicates that the TV show is considered ‘rotten’.

Meghan was also lampooned for putting pretzels from the packet into a plastic bag, chiding one guest for using Markle as her surname instead of Sussex and one viewer threatened to sue claiming her recipe for homemade bath salts burned her skin. 

It came as experts claimed that the Sussexes’ new Netflix deal is a ‘downgrade’ on their previous $100million five-year tie-up and more ‘we’ll call you’ than ‘here’s the chequebook’. 

The couple signed a new ‘multi-year, first look deal for film and television projects’ with the streaming giant – understood to be worth less for the pair than their previous contract. 

The ‘first-look’ arrangement means Netflix can say yes or no to new film or television projects before anyone else – allowing them to pick and choose what they invest in. 

PR expert Mark Borkowski described the new deal as a ‘downgrade’, claiming it falls a long way from the jackpot figure of Harry and Meghan’s original contract in 2020. 

He told the Daily Mail: ‘I think Netflix has done a very neat job of pivoting away from two very expensive people who didn’t deliver, and they’ve taken that deal off the table, and they’ve given them a modest one. 

‘It’s not like they’re gradually uncoupling – it’s a downgrade. Netflix are not going to expose themselves to those budgets again. It’s Netflix saying, ‘Let’s have a look at your content, but we’ll pick and choose, mate’.’ 

He believes the pair will be paid for each production selected by Netflix rather than receiving an overall fee, such as the reported $100million of their first deal.

‘I would be surprised if it’s not pay-as-you-go and it’s well, well below that first mark,’ he added. 

The couple’s new output will include a second season of the Duchess’s ‘With Love, Meghan’ lifestyle show later this month, as well as a Christmas special in December.

The Sussexes are also working on ‘Masaka Kids, A Rhythm Within’ – a documentary about orphaned children in Uganda, where the ‘shadows of the HIV/Aids crisis linger’.

There is also ‘active development’ on other projects with Netflix which ‘span a variety of content genres’, including an adaptation of romantic novel Meet Me At The Lake.

But Mr Borkowski said the couple will not be granted the same budget as they were under their previous contract with the streaming service. 

‘They have shot the golden goose of 2020 – more of a ‘we’ll call you’ than ‘here’s the chequebook’,’ he said. 

‘It’s a first-look deal, which means Netflix gets first dibs but no obligation to bankroll every semi-royal whim.

‘I reckon Netflix is trimming fat industry-wide, so this is less carte blanche, more curated cameo.

‘They’re still in business together – Meghan’s. As ever brand and seasonal specials keep them in the Netflix shop window but make no mistake, this is a slimmed-down sequel to the blockbuster original. So Harry and Meghan’s new Netflix chapter [is] less champagne budget, more Prosecco by the glass.’ 

Netflix has already released the first series of With Love, Meghan as well as Polo, Heart of Invictus, Live to Lead and the couple’s bombshell documentary Harry & Meghan as well as being a business partner on Meghan’s lifestyle brand, As Ever.

Five years ago, Harry and Meghan secured a lucrative contract thought to be worth $100million (£74million) with Netflix after quitting as senior working royals in 2020.

The renewed deal was described by the Sussexes – who made the announcement with Netflix – as ‘extending their creative partnership’ through Archewell Productions. 

But the new terms are understood to be worth less for Harry and Meghan than their previous contract, according to a person familiar with the deal, and represent Netflix loosening its ties with the couple. 

In a statement, Meghan said: ‘We’re proud to extend our partnership with Netflix and expand our work together to include the As Ever brand.’ 

Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria said: ‘We’re excited to continue our partnership.’