Meghan Markle's 'strong' determination as she launches second Netflix series

As ever, Meghan Markle made an immediate impact as she dropped her latest Netflix series today. The return of With Love, Meghan sees the actress-turned-lifestyle influencer’s unique style of aspirational hostessing come to life at the California home she shares with Prince Harry and their two children alongside a host of celebrity guests.

Some can’t get enough of it, while others hate it. One thing is for certain, people can’t stop talking about it. The first series, and her brand As Ever, were panned by many, dubbing them “frivolous” and “pointless”. But the show still racked up tens of millions of views and people are buying her jam and flower sprinkles in droves.

Unfazed by the backlash, Meghan has forged on with series two - even picking up a renewed multi-million pound Netflix contract in the process. So what makes Meghan so indestructible? Royal commentator Afua Hagan says she is “resilient to the hilt” after years of scrutiny and is not trying to win over the haters with her ventures.

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“There's people that absolutely love Meghan, so whatever she does, they will buy into it and they'll love it,” she said. “And there's people that absolutely hate her, so will hate-watch it so they can criticise her. But she forges on regardless. She's resilient to the hilt in the face of all this criticism. She just gets on with it because she believes in what she's doing.

“It’s about Harry and Meghan just getting on with their lives. She’s strong, she’s determined, she truly believes in what she’s doing.”

In the second series, fans see Meghan throw open the doors to her Montecito home again, where she talks about making cooked breakfast for Harry, Archie, six, and Lilibet, four, and reveals it was Harry who said ‘I love you’ first on their third date in Botswana.

Whilst family talk is on the table, Harry and the kids don’t make an appearance. Instead she’s joined by a host of celebrity guests including Queer Eye For The Straight Gig star Tan France and model and TV personality Chrissy Teigen as they get to work in the kitchen.

From crafting to cooking, Meghan leans up to being the hostess with the mostess. Former BBC Royal Correspondent Jennie Bond says Meghan’s approach may not be to everyone’s taste, but she’s playing to her strengths and that’s something to be admired. “It's a lifestyle program - it’s light, it's frothy, it brings a bit of fun, a little bit of joy,” Jennie gives her verdict.

“You know what? I think she has some decent tips. Making things look presentable is an essential part of cookery. I don't think we should go on knocking her for that. The show is what it is, it’s not pretending to be anything else. Has she turned opinion round? I don't think so because I think that with Meghan, she is Marmite, I'm afraid. Or jam spread. People love her or hate her. But I personally think that she is showing that she is quite reasonably good and quite fairly professional at what she does now, which is what she did before.

“With The Tig, she was a pretty early influencer, before she married Harry.” Five years on from Megxit, which saw Harry and Meghan step back as working members of the Royal family and move to the US, the pair have built a new life out there as a family. LA-born Meghan is back on home soil and Jennie says that comfort has emboldened her.

She says the pair have settled into their own interests - with Harry happy to take a back seat and focus more on his philanthropy. “I think she's probably feeling a lot stronger now back in her home country and her own patch, and talking her own sort of California speak,” she mused. “She’s better rooted and happier and dealing with things in a more resilient fashion because of where she was.”

“They are going their own ways now. Harry has taken a conscious step back and this is Meghan's thing. The influence celebrity social media path wasn’t Harry. He's doing things which are quasi royalty, the sort of stuff he was comfortable doing in his previous life.

“It’s an odd thing to have tried to do, make television programs, be in front or even behind the camera, be associated with cameras in any way because he hates cameras. The sound of a camera gives him PTSD. So I think he's much better off campaigning on the things he feels strongly about.

“You remember him sitting in the back of a car and sticking his tongue out at the photographers? I suppose it was a joke at the time, but I think he's always felt it very difficult to have all these lenses pointed at him. So why would you want them pointing at your children?” Whilst fans may be disappointed by the absence of young Archie and Lilibet, Jennie says it’s important to the pair to protect the children as they get older.

“Giving them some kind of sense of privacy or normality must be uppermost in their minds, as with Catherine and William. We've seen a little bit more of them than we're used to. Um, but I think Harry particularly would want them kept in the background as much as possible. It might make them uncomfortable. You think of being Harry and how uncomfortable he was. You remember him sitting in the back of a car and sticking his tongue out at the photographers? I suppose it was a joke at the time, but I think he's always felt it very difficult to have all these lenses pointed at him. So why would you want them pointing at your children?”

In one poignant moment during the series, Meghan opened up about the heartache of leaving Archie and Lilibet as she and Harry visited the UK in 2020. Meghan said she was “not well” after being apart from them for three weeks after their trip following the death of Queen Elizabeth so they could attend her funeral. Afua says people will relate to that side of Meghan.

“She loves her children,” she said. “They're her greatest achievement. So I think it's an interesting insight into that time and how incredibly difficult it was for everybody. “It’s good that she's talking about that and I think it's something that lots of mums will recognise, how difficult it is to be away from your children.”

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