Critics have harshly reviewed Meghan Markle’s latest Netflix series, describing the Duchess of Sussex as ‘needy’ and ‘narcissistic’ in her continued pursuit of success on television.
The second season of “With Love, Meghan,” which premiered on Netflix today, has been criticized as being ‘slightly less bizarre yet more needy’ than its predecessor, despite attracting a large audience during its first season.
The Mail’s Liz Jones branded the new season ‘staged, fake and dull’ – but unlike other critics, commended Meghan for being ‘genuinely earnest’.
The Guardian dismissed the show as a ‘gormless lifestyle filler’, while The Telegraph described her as a ‘Montecito Marie Antoinette’.
The Times was equally cutting, calling the eight-part season ‘a series in search of a meaning, fronted by a woman in need of some cash’.
Even with celebrity appearances by Chrissy Teigen, John Legend, and Tan France, reviewers argue the show lacks depth, suggesting Meghan’s performance lacks authenticity.
In the series, she confesses to chef Christina Tosi: ‘I usually don’t enjoy baking because it’s too precise.’ Interestingly, her own product line, As Ever, launched in March, offers ready-made shortbread cookies and crepe mixes with pre-measured ingredients.
Royal correspondent Sean Coughlan provided a rare positive review, describing the show as a form of escapism: ‘It’s like a glass of something sparkling on a gloomy day.’
But others found it grating – and deeply self-indulgent.
Model and TV personality Chrissy Teigen turns up with her husband, the singer-songwriter John Legend, in the series
Meghan Markle opens up about her family a number of times in the lifestyle show, which features cooking, crafting and hosting tips
Radio Times’ Caroline Frost said Meghan ‘failed’ to be ‘authentic’ by ‘cooking and gardening in an $8m farmhouse down the road from her own home’
Daily Mail
The Mail’s Liz Jones branded the new season ‘staged, fake and dull’ – but unlike other critics, praised Meghan for being ‘genuinely earnest’.
‘Of course, it’s all staged and artificial – filmed in a rented house close to her Montecito residence – but so are other shows like Nigella’s. While Nigella is known for her strength, Meghan seems genuinely awkward. She refers to bread-making as ‘moving meditation’ and is sincere about it,’ noted Jones.
‘What I love about Meghan – aside from the fact she makes a pressed forget-me-not necklace for Guy, her beagle (RIP) – is she seems genuinely earnest: it really is not an act.
‘She repeats the phrase ”so sweet” often and seems warm with the crew. I adore, too, the day drinking; there is nowhere she goes without a coup of champagne.’
Guardian
The Guardian’s Lucy Mangan gave the new series just two stars, writing: ‘It’s so boring, so contrived, so effortfully whimsical that, do you know what? In the end, it does become almost fascinating.’
She continued: ‘She’s still sprinkling flowers over everything, by the way. I don’t know if it’s a choice or a compulsion, but if you stand still long enough in (not) Meghan’s kitchen, the chances are you will be covered in violets and served alongside a mug of grey foam to a nano-celebrity who is beginning to realise he has not been paid enough.’
The Times
The Times’ Hilary Rose had an equally negative reaction to the show, penning: ‘It was the bookbinding that finished me off. No, wait. Maybe it was the moment when Meghan wrapped a wooden box in a sarong, stuck a flower on top and stood back for applause.
‘Mainly, though, it was the bookbinding, a TV programme about watching glue dry. It went downhill from there.’
She added: ‘With Love, Meghan is baffling. It occupies the sweet spot where irrelevant meets intolerable. It’s like an advert for somewhere we’ll never go and aren’t invited, an ego trip in a sun hat that boils down to this: Meghan is pretty and likes roast chicken and flower arranging.
‘That’s an entry for Miss World, not a concept for ten hours of TV.’
Radio Times
Radio Times’ Caroline Frost said Meghan ‘failed’ to be ‘authentic’ by ‘cooking and gardening in an $8m farmhouse down the road from her own home’.
Ms Frost added the setup was as ‘impersonal as a supermarket ad’ – despite Meghan claiming in an interview with Bloomberg today that she has returned to her ‘authentic’ self in recent years – someone she couldn’t be a few years back.
‘It was different several years ago where I couldn’t be as vocal and I had to wear nude pantyhose all the time!’ the Duchess said, adding it ‘felt a little bit inauthentic’.
Harry took Meghan away on a romantic trip to Botswana where the pair camped under the stars for their third date
Meghan landed another series despite her last being met with excoriating reviews from critics, who branded it ‘bland’ and ‘toe-curling’
The Netflix show, which is streaming from today, was filmed last year in a rented home in Montecito, close to the Sussex’s own mansion
The Telegraph
The Telegraph’s Anita Singh said Harry’s absence from the show – despite the programme being based on the couple’s Californian home life – was becoming ‘increasingly weird’.
She adds: ‘The closing credits play out to the lyrics ”don’t let it be the last time”. Please, let it be the last time.’
The Telegraph gave the series just two stars, and titled their review ‘More tone-deafness from the Montecito Marie Antoinette.’
Throughout the eight-part series Meghan is seen baking with her guests — at one point preparing sourdough for Teigen and creating homemade McDonald’s-style apple pies with France using ready-made puff pastry.
‘Let’s get our puff pastry ready,’ Meghan says in one episode, ‘We’re going to use pre-made, good puff pastry as opposed to making our dough from scratch.’
She later adds: ‘I love the idea of being able to rethink baking to be just a little more spontaneous.’
With Love, Meghan follows the same format as the critically-savaged first series.
She makes homemade versions of McDonald’s hot apple pies, the American cheese crackers Cheez-Its and salt and vinegar crisps – and serves up beverages such as a ‘lavender grey latte’ made from Earl Grey tea, lavender, and frothy honey and vanilla milk.
The Duchess also uses the phrase ‘moving meditation’ twice to refer to methods of creating calm, and tells another guest: ‘I’m thinking about putting each of us in our comfort zone and out of our comfort zone. So I thought we’d begin with flower arranging.’
According to Meghan, she cooks breakfast for both children most days, fried eggs and pancakes.
‘But I like to do surprise pancakes for the kids,’ she revealed during one episode.
‘So I always put some ground flax seeds or some chia seeds in and Lili will ask, ‘can I have my chia seeds? I want to have freckles.”
Although Prince Harry and their children came along to watch filming on a number of days, none of them feature in the show in person. Prince Harry did appear fleetingly in the final episode of series one.
The Netflix show was filmed last year in a rented home in Montecito, close to the Sussex’s own mansion.
The first series pulled in 5.3 million views, in the top 5 per cent of Netflix shows for the first half of 2025. She and Harry signed a five-year contract reported to be worth $100million with Netflix but that has now been replaced by a first-look deal which gives the streaming giant first refusal on any shows they create.
One proposal said to have been mentioned among a long list of possibilities is a documentary marking the 30th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death in 2027.
The Sussex’s office this week declined to confirm or deny if that is under consideration.
