Three episodes into With Love, Meghan, Meghan Markle’s long-awaited Netflix show and I’m just going to come out and say it: 1) I love it and 2) anybody who would turn down a stay at the Duchess of Sussex’s house after watching this is probably lying.
To me—a self-confessed lifestyle TV addict—With Love, Meghan is one of the coziest and most escapist television watching experiences of 2025 so far. What’s not to love about the Montecito landscape, or the ASMR-inducing scene when Markle and her beekeeper are filmed double straining their freshly harvested golden honey dripping indulgently down into a bowl, or the soothing sounds of Markle’s voice as she walks you through her favorite ways to make a house guest feel spoiled and special? It’s like getting wrapped in a warm hug, and I’m truly here for it—especially right now, when the daily news cycle moves so fast it can feel like an assault on your senses.
I’m aware that this is an unpopular opinion—critics from around the world have piled in with snarky, and oftentimes outright, digs at the show. Even The Economist, hardly a publication you’d think would be that interested in dissecting a show not aimed at their audience, waded in.
I accept that there probably is some valid criticism—Markle lives a lifestyle that the majority of us will never attain, and to portray the show as being accessible to all may rankle. Sure, smearing some cream cheese on a slice of bread and cutting it into a cute shape—her suggestion for a kids party—is a tip you can find in the American Girl Doll cookbook series (and isn’t exactly rocket science). And the one-pot spaghetti that she cooks in episode one is literally just one-pot spaghetti—although it’s not like all the best chefs and cooking sites don’t have a recipe of their own (Martha Stewart’s one-pan pasta is one of her most famous.)
But I would argue that the criticism of Markle, and by extension anything she does—her show, her new line of home goods As Ever—has become more sport than valid analysis. It’s “fun” to find the flaws, to pick apart every perceived mistake she has made, without really ever taking a moment to ask ourselves if what’s being said is true or even really warranted.
And in this instance I don’t believe it is. Look, is With Love, Meghan a piece of televisual genius? No. It’s a lifestyle show—albeit one with a surprisingly welcome amount of free flowing booze. And lifestyle shows are not meant to be anything other than exactly what this show is: fluffy, cozy, covetable, warm, and—in this case—tipsy.
Do I want to make all of Meghan Markle’s recipes? Yes. Sign me up for the breakfast frittata, the one-pot spaghetti, the lemon and honey cake right now. Would I love to give away mini trowels at my daughter’s next birthday party? I mean, sure if I didn’t live Brooklyn where everyone has apartments with no outside space. Do I dream of making my own epsom bath salts, beeswax candles, and balloon arches? Don’t judge me, but of course (actually probably not the balloon arch). It would be dreamy to have that much extra time in my day.
And am I enjoying the fact that Markle too is doing many of these things for the first time? Absolutely. I find it surprisingly charming that she’s not pretending she’s been making popcorn from dried corn husks for years, or that she’s ever baked a donut before. It feels as authentically unattainable as most lifestyle shows are in general. And I’m here for that—not some Jackass version of Meghan Markle’s life. So let’s lay off, and enjoy the show for exactly what it is. A fantasy of a life.
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