House of Klaus

This is my honest review of With Love, Meghan, which premiered 3/4/2025 on Netflix. I am not discussing the previews or any unaired footage, only the series itself.

My overall view is that the show should have been less about Meghan trying recipes and crafts for the first time, charging headfirst into the unknown, and more about the melting pot of cuisine her guests would share with her. peppered with the tips she’s practiced time and again. I would have enjoyed “The Melting Pot with Meghan” far more than watching her bake donuts for the first time. I will talk more about the melting pot after my initial impressions. My stance is on entertainment, and the delivery of cooking and home-making.

Do I know a lot about Meghan Markle? I don’t have to if she is relatable. With love, Meghan shows us that she likes to cook and make things for the home, an appealing subject to most people and moms. We have to eat, right? Markle has a cooking show, got it…but turns out it’s more about trying new things–winging it with instructions– and not asserting her expertise.

The first hiccup I thought the series could have improved on was her making things for the first time. We open the series with a spotlight on honey, and Markle explains that she’s never made candles before, but here she goes. Part of hosting is solidifying yourself as an expert with experience. When introducing a honey cake, Markle also explains that she doesn’t like baking. Even a stance on simple, to-the-point baking–minimalist if you will– would have been better than saying, “Baking is not my favorite thing.” While I think scriptwriters were going for honesty, she needn’t get that honest. She needs to sell us her love for each and everything she is making for entertainment. We know we’re not in her family kitchen and a “set” was very necessary to prep for the day. There is no way Markle could host in her house, so let’s buck up and be prepared to make the show. We need experts and scriptwriters who understand how to add value to production.

A small thing I did not like was all the tasting and crossing saliva during cooking and guests and Markle. It’s realistic to cook with your hair in a messy bun, and while I get the production needs to take liberties for aesthetics and her hair needs to be down and potentially get into the food, there is no way guests and Markle should be dipping their saliva into the food they are going to serve to others. Sticky fingers in honey. Sticky fingers in steamed milk. No thanks.

The show is somber when she talks about cooking and hosting a garden party complete with kids’ recipes when there are no kids in the show. It feels like an empty set, but there would be far more backlash if she included the kids. Either way, it’s mom-shaming, so cut that out and let her parent how she needs to. I did like her anecdotes about the children. It was heart-warming and authentic. It feels real when she talks about the glimmers of teaching the kids.

We have Markles’ friends from different points in her life visiting, but how could the cooking have felt more authentic as a viewer? I’m glad you asked. Markle could have incorporated food from her travels after mentioning Toronto and England to her friends, just as she did LA and her love of Mexican food. She has friends from many special times in her life who cook different cuisines and bring other cultures to life. California is the melting pot of the West Coast. One of the more authentic moments was mentioning flower arranging class during her baby shower. If she presented information about herself as an actress who fell in love and the rest was history, she could incorporate England as the memories of falling in love and her bond with her husband. There is a mention of her wedding cake, which was the closest thing we got to the love story that could have been expanded.

One of the things I wish she’d gone into was her family’s English heritage, as she is titled as Dutchess of Sussex in the opening credits. I did not go into this blog review with research and wanted to be unbiased, but there is so much charm in her talking about her family. If we’re starting in the credits by dropping Duchess, game on, let’s embrace it. She could have incorporated family traditions. It would have been pleasant in her charismatic voice to hear, “Here is a tea I grew in my garden that reminds me of when I was falling in love across the pond.” Yes, Mindy Kaling was taking the piss out of the ladybugs (ladybirds) and British vocab, which I think was part of her character as a comedian, and did mention she had met Markle’s husband. Also, Kaling’s stylist won that day, and she looked great to boot. I thought, “a cake and Mindy can’t be all we have of England…” But it was.

In the first episode, she makes a “come home soon” candle, and while it could be for her friend Daniel “home,” makes me think it’s for her husband. Markle’s husband does appear in the last episode after a few mentions. it would have been sweet to have the garden party finale leading up to him being back home.

Overall, we are not sure what else Markle does besides send the kids to school in the morning. Is she focused on being a stay at home mom? Where is the after school snack segment? Is she focused on philanthropy or causes? Show us that. There is a quiet space after a crew member says he has “Saturdays” to spend with the family that makes us wonder if Markle is playing tv host or really living it.

Her brand is on point with all of the edible flowers and cuttings she places everywhere. Through her charisma, I want to see the actress who fell in love played out more through the episodes. With love, is her signature, so we needed better personification of her character.

The show was decorated well but was also as bland as a baked doughnut. All Americans know you should fry them, and maybe that’s what we needed a melting pot for.