Spectator by Seema Goswami: Markle needs sparkle
Meghan Markle’s show is a snoozefest, and her guests deserve better. It’s time to swap the dull crafts for some actual fun
My first thought when I caught the first season of With Love, Meghan on Netflix was, “How on earth did this bilge make it to the airwaves?” And my last thought as I gritted my teeth to make my way to the end of the second season was – yes, you guessed it! – “how did this drivel merit a second season?”
Well, there’s an easy explanation for that. Apparently, all the episodes were shot in one go and then divvied up into two lots so that Meghan Markle and Netflix could announce that “Yay, the show has been commissioned for a second season!” But honestly, if you ask me (and the many, many reviewers across the world who have panned the show), Netflix would have been better off making a program on watching paint dry. It would have been more compelling viewing than watching Meghan flail around in a rented mansion, entertaining ‘friends’ (some of whom she had never met before), which, in her book, translates into making them do arts and crafts to earn their supper.
Yes, seriously, that’s how Markle does entertainment. A ‘friend’ arrives at ‘her’ house, and instead of being served a drink and offered a snack, he or she is quickly put to work. One of them learns how to bind a book (so that we can literally watch glue dry); another is taught how to make home-made soap; and then there are those poor souls who are put to work arranging flowers in a ‘vessel’ that ‘speaks’ to them. Going by the trapped look in the eyes of most of them, I can guarantee that they will not be coming back for seconds.
But just in case Netflix is toying with the idea of inflicting a third season of With Love, Meghan on us, here are just some ideas that Markle can try instead of this earnest arts and crafting routine that even ten-year-olds would turn their nose up at.
· A game of charades: This has the added advantage of being something that the royal family has done for decades on end at their various family holidays. So, she can easily shoehorn references to her royal pedigree (one of her favourite things to do) with some light entertainment that draws on her acting chops (such as they are). And who knows, maybe she can even make the audience laugh with her rather than at her.
· Dancing lessons: Given how many shots we had in the Harry and Meghan Netflix documentary of Markle dancing goofily around, clearly she loves cutting a rug whenever she gets a chance. So, why not rope her guests into learning how to foxtrot or tango or just do a cha cha cha? That could well be parlayed into a starring role in Strictly Come Dancing, for when Netflix (as is inevitable) loses patience and moves on.
· Karaoke: If she really wants to generate some laughs and show what a good sport she is, then a karaoke session or two is just what the executive producer should order. Meghan has always prided herself on having a good singing voice, but a couple of guest croakers would be just the ticket to keep us right royally entertained. Which is way more than what Markle is doing right now!
From HT Brunch, September 6, 2025
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