Meghan Markle in the trailer for her new Netflix show With Love, Meghan. Photo / Netflix
Meghan Markle in the trailer for her new Netflix show With Love, Meghan. Photo / Netflix
The Duchess of Sussex has said that filming her new Netflix series allowed her to show her children the realities of being a “working mum”.
Meghan revealed that the Duke of Sussex and their children – Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3 – visited her on the set of With Love, Meghan, which will be released today.
She told People magazine: “I loved that my children were able to watch me working and see the balance of that and understand what mama does and is working to create and share.
“It was really special because up until then, they hadn’t seen me at work.”
The duchess said the development of her associated business venture, As Ever, set to launch in the spring, would also be educational for her daughter.
“Being able to have my own little girl, as I’ve spent so much of my life championing the rights of girls and women, and to be able to see this as a multi-generational story – Archie is of course included in that, my husband is of course included in that – but I love the heritage feeling of it and knowing this is something that I can create in front of my daughter and teach her what it’s like to be a working mom,” she said.
“This is something that hopefully can be part of her legacy too.”
The duchess said that her son, who was ill recently and was fed bone broth by Doria Ragland, her mother, told her: “Mama, don’t work too hard.”
The interview is billed as the duchess’ “most intimate in years” and came just hours ahead of the release of her eight-part series, which will be followed by the launch of As Ever and her new podcast series on Lemonada Media.
But Meghan insisted that she was not an influencer.
“I see myself as an entrepreneur and a female founder and if the brand ends up influential, then that’s great,” she said.
Despite both the show and the business promoting a domestic idyll, the duchess insisted that she did not consider herself a “trad wife” – even if she does serve Chinese food deliveries on plates.
“I like being able to do a hybrid ... but even when I get takeout, I will try to plate it beautifully,” she said, adding: “The series is about doing what you can do and doing it with love.”
Meghan Markle and Mindy Kaling. Photo / Netflix
The duchess shut down her previous lifestyle brand, The Tig, when it became clear her relationship with Prince Harry was serious.
“I loved The Tig, but I certainly love my husband more,” she said. “So that was a choice I made at the time, and I wouldn’t change that for a second.”
It has been five years since the couple walked away from their roles as working members of the royal family in a blaze of acrimony, but Meghan admitted that she cherished their royal titles, given to them by the Queen on their wedding day.
The Sussex name was “part of our love story”, she said.
“It’s our shared name as a family, and I guess I hadn’t recognised how meaningful that would be to me until we had children. I love that that is something that Archie, Lili, H and I all have together. It means a lot to me.”
The duchess insisted that she and Harry lived normal lives in Montecito and were part of the local community, going out for dinner, joining public yoga classes and inviting “school moms” and their children over for play dates.
Meghan Markle in a promotional still for her new Netflix show With Love, Meghan. Photo / @netflix
Offering a glimpse of the domestic idyll she will soon promote, she said she loved making fried eggs and bacon for her husband and children.
The duchess claimed that her newfound creativity had allowed her and Harry to relive their “honeymoon period” because he loved watching her scribbling notes and newsletters and enjoying the development process.
“We’ve been such a close team for so long that we’re just in it beat by beat with each other,” she said. “And I love that. To be able to be a female founder and do that with my husband’s support means everything.”
She said they enjoyed “day dates” in the afternoons when they had lunch together, as well as “nightcap recaps” in the evenings when they enjoyed a drink and made lunch boxes as they chatted about their days.
They also love television shows including Shrinking, Black Doves and The White Lotus.
The duke makes just a fleeting appearance in the final episode of her Netflix show but was a familiar face on set.
However, it was clear he wanted to remain behind the scenes, one crew member told the magazine, adding: “He wanted this to be Meghan’s moment to shine.”
The duchess said she chose to film the show on a nearby estate because she wanted to protect the “safe haven” of the family home.
“We’re a close-knit family, and I love those moments – putting Lili down for a nap, having lunch together, having sacred time together at the end of the day,” she said.
“Our kitchen is where mama just cooks for the family, and with a crew of 80-plus people, that’s a lot of people to have in your house.”
The five-year deal the duke and duchess signed with Netflix in 2020 is not expected to be renewed when it expires later this year.
The new eight-part show, therefore, marks the duchess’ last roll of the dice, a make-or-break moment on which her future earning power relies.
If it flops and the streaming giant opts not to make another series, it will likely distance itself from both Harry and Meghan.
Trailers have variously shown her sprinkling edible flowers on doughnuts, drizzling olive oil over a plate of fish and discussing music with her guests.
Netflix bosses will be hoping to emulate the success of the duke and duchess’ six-part docuseries Harry & Meghan, which was released in December 2022 and saw the couple interviewed extensively, sharing private family anecdotes and video footage.
