You can tell that With Love, Meghan is successful because the Duchess of Sussex’s haters are still desperately clinging to arguments for why Meghan flopped. “The critics hated it!” I’m not entirely convinced “the critics” had ever seen a food/lifestyle show before. “WLM is an international laughingstock!” Actually, people around the world are buying Le Creuset and being inspired by Meghan’s cooking and entertaining tips. “It only got to #7 on Netflix’s top-ten!” So you admit that millions of people are watching WLM around the world and, for the record, it made it to the top-five? Anyway, the Daily Mail’s Amanda Platell is once again trying to do too much. She cites these arguments for why WLM is bad/unpopular, and then claims that, actually, all the Windsors want is for Meghan to have a successful show, because they’re worried about what she’ll do if WLM flops.
Media insiders suggest that Netflix aren’t too worried if the show is a monumental dud, or if Meghan is ridiculed from the US to the UK – because it all means it is getting huge publicity and that’s what matters. Tellingly there haven’t been any gushing tweets of sisterly solidarity from her so-called besties such as Serena Williams, Oprah Winfrey, Amal Clooney who were, of course, all cherished guests at her wedding.
As for Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace, there’s not been a word of encouragement from those quarters either. No kind words from William and Kate, just a stony silence.
The irony is that the Royals are desperate for Meg’s show to succeed. As my colleague, the royal expert Richard Eden has said, it would mean ‘she and Harry would not need to exploit their royal connections again’.
As it is, Mrs Sussex could be left high and dry in 2025 if the programme flops and Netflix pull the plug. Where then would she go to harvest more millions?
Whatever the case, the Palace dearly hopes it will prove to be a ratings hit. Because as one courtier speculated, if this venture fails, what other depths can she possibly plumb for profit, especially as it’s believed she kept a diary since joining the royals.
‘The last thing anyone wants is another Spare, this time from Meghan,’ said the courtier with deep apprehension.
Sadly, the failure of With Love, Meghan presents the monarchy with the terrifying thought of exactly that ‘TIGging’ Time Bomb. A vengeful book from the desperate Duchess of Drivel would be the worst form of royal revenge.
It’s so telling that this has been a consistent fear since 2020: that one day, Meghan would tell her whole story, that she would write a book or do a Netflix series on what actually happened to her in the UK. They feared that more than they feared Harry’s memoir. Remember how William was apparently physically ill with worry before the Oprah interview? Guilty consciences.
It’s also so typical of the Windsors to not think three steps ahead. If the goal is explicitly “we want to ensure that Meghan never writes her memoir,” then perhaps they shouldn’t have had a years-long meltdown over every single f–king thing that Meghan does and says? Again, it’s mind-boggling that everyone over there is doing THIS MUCH about Meghan’s sweet little cooking show, where she’s not spilling secrets or talking about the Windsors. That’s what they fear too, although they would never admit that part: that Meghan dealt with everything with a tremendous amount of grace, and all she wants to do is move on with her life and forget about those ghastly people. (Also: I’ve said this before, but the time has passed for Meghan’s “memoir” – she said what she wanted to say in the Netflix series and the Oprah interview.)
Photos courtesy of Netflix, Avalon Red.
