Meghan Markle’s Show Labeled ‘Duchess of Flops and Ratings Disasters’

Meghan Markle’s new TV show was a “masterclass in cringe cooking” and made her look like the “Duchess of Flops,” a PR expert has told Newsweek.

With Love, Meghan dropped on Netflix on Tuesday and showed her make bath salts for her makeup artist Daniel Martin and Korean fried chicken with chef Roy Choi.

However, she also came in for hefty criticism over correcting Mindy Kaling for calling her “Meghan Markle” rather than the Duchess of Sussex and for repackaging Trader Joe’s Peanut Butter Pretzel Nuggets in personalized bags.

Eric Schiffer, chair of Reputation Management Consultants, told Newsweek: “The show is not a recipe to rebuild her reputation; in fact, it reenforces her as the Duchess of Flops and Ratings Disasters.

“I don’t think this builds her back or expands her audience in a meaningful way at all. To me, this is not the project for her to start a masterclass in cringe cooking.

“For her to think she’s going to somehow recast herself as a modern day Martha Stewart screams ‘out of touch elite desperation.'”

Schiffer said Meghan should instead get back to the charity work she was doing earlier in her career.

The duchess engaged in philanthropy before she met Prince Harry, as well as during her career as a working royal.

And the Sussexes still have a philanthropic foundation, Archewell, but are now seldom seen visiting charities.

Schiffer said: “Where they were the best was when they focused on organic, authentic acts to support causes that were meaningful to the next generation of the planet.

“Where they have gone wrong is when they tried to merchandise and overcommit to contracts where they’re forced to put out content which is subpar.”

Reviews of Meghan’s show have been unforgiving on both sides of the Atlantic and across the political divide with left of center U.K. outlet The Independent awarding one star: “With Love, Meghan is queasy and exhausting—visiting the Sussexes might not be a fun experience.”

The Guardian—arguably the home of British progressives—published multiple scathing reviews including one headlined: “Kiss the Netflix deal goodbye! With Love, Meghan is so pointless it might be the Sussexes’ last TV show.”

Another read described it as “toe-curlingly unlovable TV,” while one of the newspaper’s star columnists, Marina Hyde, wrote: “The mildest way to describe this show is as a ghastly artifact of a particular cultural era that recently met its apocalypse.”

American reviews held little to cheer Meghan’s mood with Variety writing: “With Love, Meghan Is a Montecito Ego Trip Not Worth Taking: TV Review.”

Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek’s The Royals Facebook page.

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