Meghan’s second series of her cooking and lifestyle show landed on Netflix today, two weeks after the Sussexes announced a new deal with the streamer.
The eight-part series, With Love, Meghan, features celebrity guests including Chrissy Teigan, John Legend and television personality Tan France.
During the show, the Duchess shares intimate details of her family life – from her early dates with Prince Harry and when she fell in love, to their children Archie and Lilibet’s favourite foods and colours.
Meghan landed another series despite her last being met with excoriating reviews from critics, who branded it ‘bland’ and ‘toe-curling’.
In Episode Three of the new season, Meghan tells Queer Eye presenter France how she was left ‘not well’ after spending nearly three weeks away from her children.
The Duchess didn’t elaborate on dates, but there will be speculation she was referring to when she and Harry unexpectedly remained in the UK due to the death of Queen Elizabeth in 2022.
The Duke wrote in his memoir Spare of the ‘difficult days’ after the Queen’s death, when he and Meghan were separated from Archie and Lilibet for ‘longer than we’d ever been’. He added that when they reunited in California, ‘for days and days we couldn’t stop hugging the children, couldn’t let them out of our sight’.
The Duchess also tells her love story with Harry, revealing it was him who said the ‘L word’ first. She adds that she really understood that she was falling in love with ‘H’ on their third date, which was a safari trip to Botswana.
Meghan also details:
- The thing she misses most about the UK are the radio stations, ‘Magic FM’ being her favourite
- She makes homemade versions of McDonald’s hot apple pies – a treat she used to have after a good audition
- She doesn’t usually like baking ‘because it’s so measured’. But she loves the idea of being able to ‘rethink baking to be just a little more spontaneous’
- Lilibet’s favourite colour is pink and Archie is ‘the most tender, sweet child of all time’
- Archie and Lilibet have been asking their parents to get them a cat
Meghan Markle opens up about her family a number of times in the lifestyle show, which features cooking, crafting and hosting tips
Harry took Meghan away on a romantic trip to Botswana where the pair camped under the stars for their third date
King Charles and the royal family were mourning the loss of Queen Elizabeth in September 2022, against the backdrop of a troubled relationship with Harry and Meghan.
The Duke said later in an ITV interview that there was a ‘really horrible reaction from my family members’ when the Queen died, with ‘the briefings and the leakings and the planting’.
He flew solo to Balmoral, in a last-minute dash to try to see his grandmother before she died, after his brother Prince William ignored his texts – but Meghan remained in Windsor after Charles asked Harry not to bring his wife to Scotland, he claimed in his autobiography.
The Sussexes had left Archie, then three, and one-year-old Lili, in the hands of Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland in LA, after travelling to Manchester for a One World Summit on September 5, 2022, before heading to Dusseldorf for an Invictus event and then returning to London.
They ended up having to extend their stay when Harry’s grandmother died on September 8, staying to make various public appearances including greeting mourners with William and the Princess of Wales at Windsor despite the brothers’ rift, and attending the funeral on September 19.
In the third episode, Meghan, 44, is also asked by France if there was a moment when she realised that this was the real thing.
‘Yes, that was on our third date,’ she says. ‘We met in Botswana and we camped for five days together. You really get to know each other when you’re in a little tent together and it’s like – what is that outside the tent? That’s an elephant. Are we going to be safe? Yeah, you’re safe. OK.’
France then asks who declared love first, and she reveals: ‘He told me.’ France says: ‘You’re starting to blush,’ and Meghan smiles: ‘She’s still got it.’
Model and TV personality Chrissy Teigen turns up with her husband, the singer songwriter John Legend in the series
In another scene with the fashion designer, France asks what Meghan just put on her French toast, to which the Duchess replies: ‘Flower sprinkles. I love them.’
France hesitates and then remarks: ‘Wow. That’s the gayest s*** I’ve seen in a long time.’
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 first series pulled in 5.3 million views, in the top five per cent of Netflix shows for the first half of 2025. She and Harry signed a five-year contract reported to be worth $100 million 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.
Netflix is also funding the couple’s Archewell Productions company.
One proposal said to have been mentioned among a long list of possibilities is a documentary marking the 30thanniversary of Princess Diana’s death in 2027.
The Sussex’s office this week declined to confirm or deny if that is under consideration.
With Love, Meghan follows the same format as its 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.
Although Prince Harry and their children came along to watch filming on a number of days, none of them features in the show in person.
Prince Harry did appear fleetingly in the final episode of series one.
But Meghan opens up about her family a number of times in the lifestyle show, which features cooking, crafting and hosting tips. Archie and Lilibet come up regularly in conversation.
The former actress says that she knew from when she was a girl that she wanted to be a mother. ‘I’d receive my allowance and I’d go to Kmart and buy a real diaper bag. I’d want a real diaper bag to take care of my doll. I always wanted to be mom. I love it. It’s better even than I expected.
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
Meghan landed another series despite her last being met with excoriating reviews from critics, who branded it ‘bland’ and ‘toe-curling’
‘The longest I went without being around our kids was almost three weeks. I was not well.’
She says that her son Archie, who is sixth in line to the throne, is a gentle boy. ‘He’s like the most tender, sweet child of all time,’ she says. Both children are nagging her for a pet. ‘My kids really want a cat!’ she tells model and TV personality Chrissy Teigen, who turns up with her husband, the singer songwriter John Legend.
Perhaps the most surprising revelation – sitting alongside crafting including making jewellery with dried flowers – is Meghan’s affection for the UK.
The couple quit the country in 2020, and Meghan later talked about having struggled with suicidal thoughts and having no one to help her in her new Royal role. She added that she had her passport taken away after marrying Harry.
She has not set foot in the UK since September 2022, when the couple were on a charity visit and the Queen died. Harry has since said that he believes that the country is unsafe for his wife and children, and also has let it be known that he is never returning to live here from California.
But she seems almost nostalgic when talking about the UK with Tan France. She tells France, who was born in Doncaster: ‘One of the things I miss most about the UK is the radio stations.’ Magic FM was her favourite of them.
Teased that it is a ‘grandma’ stations she says that her new favourite station to listen to in the car is called ‘Mom Jeans’ and plays vintage soft rock.
Their children are being raised with the influence of both cultures. In episode 6, she tells Clare Smyth, the Northern Irish-born three Michelin starred chef who cooked at the couple’s wedding that their children mix British and American pronunciations.
‘My kids, they’ll say a little bit of both but never cooking terms because I guess Papa’s not cooking as much. They both say Zebra though instead of Zeebra.’
Meghan in the new trailer for the second season of her lifestyle and cooking show
Meghan is nostalgic about the meal served at their 2018 wedding, which included braised lamb. She said: ‘Remember we had the map where everything was sourced? We really wanted people to appreciate where every ingredient was coming from. I mean that was the most delicious meal. Everyone still talks about it.’ Meghan says.
Smyth created a special recipe for fried chicken for the after-party at the wedding and tells Meghan: ‘We still do it for only an off-menu item.’ ‘Oh my gosh. I love that we have created something off menu,’ Meghan tells her.
She and her best friend, the make up artist Daniel Martin enjoy a ‘double date’ with Michelin starred chef David Chang and Christina Tosi, chef and cookbook author.
They make caramelised onion tarts for their guests before they arrive – topped with the very small eggs laid by her own silkie chickens. ‘The eggs are so tiny,’ says Meghan. ‘Have you ever seen them? They’re hilarious. They make very small eggs. It’s not as small as a quail egg but they’re tiny. So I thought we could fry a couple of eggs and put them on those bites.’
Meghan creates a headscarf for Christina Tosi and a pocket square for David Chang using a technique called water marbling.
She makes a salad which she calls a ‘love letter’ to California with the Iranian-American chef and food writer Samin Nosrat.
In episode 4 with Nosrat, she recalls having problems with converting cooking temperatures when she and Harry were first dating. ‘I will say when I made a roast chicken for my now husband, I was still having a lot of challenges with the conversion of Celsius and Fahrenheit. I made a horrible chicken that night. I mean, truly terrible,’ she says.
Meghan takes a trip to Malibu to meet her old friend, holiday companion and running partner Heather Dorak, owner of a Pilates studio, and packs a baseball cap emblazoned with PH40. ‘I made these for my husband’s 40th birthday for him and his friends,’ she says.
Meghan opens up about her family a number of times in the lifestyle show, which features cooking, crafting and hosting tips
She gives her old friend Heather thumbprint cookies she has made for her and her children. ‘Her kids are so sweet and we’re so close with them. They’re super close with our kids,’ Meghan says.
She tells Heather: ‘I’ve been putting them in our kids’ lunch boxes for the past week and they’re like, ‘Can we have another thumbprint cookie?’
The pair learn how to make cocktails with mixologist Payman Bahmani-Bailey.
She and Teigen talk about the old days when they were both brief case models on the television game show Deal or No Deal. ‘I was just so happy I got health insurance,’ Meghan says. ‘How far we’ve come.’
She remembers getting nervous auditioning as a young actress. ‘I’d always get blotches on the chest. So then I started auditioning in turtle necks only. I was, like, nothing to see here.’
Meghan reveals that growing up she learned how to cook by watching television and not from either parent. Rachel Ray’s 30 Minute Meals are cited as an inspiration. She lived for an extended period with her father Thomas, a TV lighting director.
Viewers get to see some of Meghan’s own garden – although not her house. There are some shots of hummingbirds flying in her Californian paradise and Meghan talks about how she makes apple sauce and apple butter from the established apple trees in her garden.
She adds: ‘I grow a lot of roses at home. My favourites are Pope John Paul II roses, Koko Lokos – amazing scent – and Just Joeys.’ She makes rose water in episode 2 and jewellery with flower petals. She also makes vegan macaroons, has a try at bookbinding and makes spicy plant-based food.
In the final episode Jose Andres, the Spanish-American chef who founded the charity World Central Kitchen, joins her in creating a sea food paella for the film crew. The meal includes sea urchins and wine from the Santa Ynez Valley in California.
