Elevating or mind-numbing? Here’s what people really think of With Love, Meghan

That a lifestyle series created by Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has broken the internet is no surprise.

Her 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey pulled in more than 17 million viewers and her every move spawns a huge response.

What should come as a surprise is that her show, which received a deluge of mockery online, will return for a second season.

Meghan Markle wants to be the “every woman” in With Love, Meghan, but not all viewers are buying it.Credit: Netflix

With Love, Meghan, which dropped on Netflix on March 4, shares the duchess’ tips and tricks for hosting and everyday living.

In it, the former Suits star is joined by various famous faces as she prepares home-made bath salts, extracts honey from a beehive and carefully places flowers on, well, everything.

Despite landing in Netflix’s Top 10 shortly after its release, the show has been dragged through the mud by critics and viewers, many taking to social media to mercilessly review and parody it. Criticism of Meghan is not new (remember the mixed reaction to her Archetypes podcast in 2022?), but specific elements of this show seem to have really rubbed people the wrong way. Here’s a rundown of some of the biggest flare-ups.

‘Elevated’ or inauthentic?

The duchess wants everything to look pretty, or in her words, “elevated”. Whether that’s attaching handwritten tags to everything in her pantry or freezing flowers inside ice-cubes, Meghan demonstrates it doesn’t need to be perfect as long as it brings you joy.

But some viewers aren’t buying it. From the naysayers’ perspective, the show is simply a series of ultra-perfect, hyper-produced moments that lack any semblance of authenticity.

“It was giving very water-sign when Meghan is a Leo, so it just didn’t feel very genuine,” one creator said on TikTok, referring tothe duchess’ arguably over-the-top kindness and awkward “try-hard” jokes, such as when she sang “my bacon brings all the boys to the yard”.

The set, which was in a $US9 million ($14.2 million) Montecito farmhouse and not in the Sussex household, also confused viewers.

“It’s so interesting that this whole show was about how to be a hostess, how to make a home, and it’s not at [her] home,” a viewer said on The Spill podcast.

Others also criticised the interior set for appearing too clinical, generic and not homey enough. One person described it as “too IKEA”.

Several TikTok creators parodied the apparent uselessness of some of Meghan’s tips, dressing themselves in various shades of beige and transferring nuts from one plastic bag to another practically identical plastic bag.

Many filmed themselves writing fancy tags for clearly mass-produced, store-bought foods, making it appear as if they’re home-made.

The Mindy moment

Arguably the most viral scene to come out of With Love, Meghan is that featuring actress and producer Mindy Kaling (The Office).

While making cucumber sandwiches and ladybug crudites, Markle mentioned her favourite meal from US fast-food chain Jack in the Box, to which Kaling responded jokingly: “People wouldn’t believe that Meghan Markle ate at Jack in the Box.”

Markle quicklyresponds: “It’s so funny, too, that you keep saying Meghan Markle. You know I’m Sussex now.”

This was particularly controversial among viewers given the debate around whether Markle and her husband, Harry, the Duke of Sussex, should be permitted to continue using their royal titles after stepping away from royal duties in 2020. Sussex is a title, not their family name, which, according to the royal family’s official website, is Mountbatten-Windsor.

As the website notes, that is the surname used by King Charles’ grandchildren and the one announced by Meghan and Prince Harry when their eldest child, Archie, was born.

Viewers relished Kaling’s dumbfounded look thereafter, posting close-ups on TikTok and ridiculing the duchess forher response.

Millennial saturation point

The cultural conversation has shifted from Millennials to Gen Z, The I Paper’s Emily Bootle argues, making this show about five years too late.

“The oatmeal-tablescaping-mason-jar-side-hustle Millennial dream has well and truly died,” she wrote.

“Nothing better captures the Millennial fatal flaw: project authenticity at all costs, including the cost of your happiness, your sanity and, ironically, your actual authenticity.”

Meghan’s defenders

Some pro-duchess creators have defended the show, saying they want to live the way Meghan does – seemingly without a worry in the world other than which candle to handcraft next.

“I want to wake up in the morning and think, ‘a friend is coming over. Let me just casually whip up a frittata with all ingredients from my garden outside’ ... That is what I want out of life,” one TikTok user said.

To them, Markle’s idea of “elevating” is more aspirational than self-absorbed.

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