As someone who has covered Meghan since her debut as Prince Harry’s girlfriend in 2016—the halcyon days of ripped Mother jeans and Misha Nonoo Husband shirts!—I don’t find the show’s wild display of wealth surprising (though I do wish the Sussexes would acknowledge their soft landing in America more often). Aspiration was always the icing on Martha’s and Ina’s cakes, too. But the reason With Love, Meghan underwhelms is that it is a lifestyle series that does not truly invite viewers into her life.
When Meghan welcomes us into the kitchen, it’s not her kitchen—her surely spectacular kitchen where “H” and Archie and Lilibet swipe bacon—but a generically luxe kitchen at a rental near their Montecito estate (like their past British homes, it has a name: The Chateau of Riven Rock). Meghan told People she decided against filming there to “protect that safe haven.” That’s understandable for a scarred former senior royal, but it’s a tricky gambit for a lifestyle maven, a role predicated on flinging open the doors to your fabulous existence and making viewers feel like a friend (before selling them a full suite of cookware). Meghan breaks the fourth wall to share treats with the camera crew, presumably in a bid to make With Love feel unstuffy, but nothing would have been fuzzier or more authentic than filming in the comfort of her actual house. Instead, when she stirs her skillet spaghetti and scoops As Ever jam in the rental kitchen—no favorite mugs or inherited dishes from her mom, Doria Ragland (or Queen Elizabeth II), to be found—it feels like what it is: a pretty yet hollow set.
Meghan’s family is also largely scrubbed from the show, except for Harry and a fleeting appearance from Ragland at a mini As Ever launch party in the finale (the prince congratulates his wife on a “great job”). I respect keeping their children, Archie, 5, and “Lili,” 3, off-camera, but I don’t see why Harry couldn’t cameo as a merry British Jeffrey to Meghan’s Ina. They didn’t have to allude to anniversary sex in a backyard tent like the Gartens (iconically) did, but “H” could at least sample the jam, maybe school us in the art of his famed scrambled eggs. Meghan lovingly mentions the kids throughout—Archie is partial to goldenberries, Lili has a patented clean-up song—but always with a high gloss of perfection. Do they ever lick icing off the mixer? Not eat vegetables daily? Maintaining her (and their) privacy is a legitimate concern; it just doesn’t make for particularly compelling TV.
