The Duchess of Sussex, pictured in the first series, was accused of lacking the qualities to compete with leaders in the cookery and lifestyle TV field. Photo / Netflix
The Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix show has been renewed for a second series, despite terrible reviews.
The second series of With Love, Meghan will be broadcast in the autumn.
It was filmed just weeks after the first series had wrapped, and at the same location, a farmhouse a few miles from the Sussexes’ home in Montecito, California, The Telegraph understands.
It follows the same format as the first, depicting the Duchess sharing hosting and cookery tips, but with different guests.
Any potential third series will depend on the success of the first two.
Netflix announced on Friday that the second series would go ahead, although the first attracted highly critical reviews in both the UK and the US.
The Duchess is not thought to have been shown any negative reviews and does not look them up herself.
The Duchess confirmed the news on Instagram, writing: “I’m thrilled to share that season 2 of With Love, Meghan is coming!”
Variety, the Hollywood trade “bible”, said the eight-part show existed “as a sort of celebration of all things Duchess of Sussex”, adding that, as with her previous media offerings, “no amount of praise seems enough”.
Its scathing review suggested that Meghan did not have the natural savvy or competence of doyennes of the cookery and lifestyle television field, such as Martha Stewart and Ina Garten, and mocked her comparatively vacuous comments and creations.
Time magazine, which named the Duke and Duchess of Sussex among its 100 most influential people of 2021, said that Meghan came across as bland.
It added that when they left the UK, the Sussexes had promised to show the reality behind the royal veneer but instead had become too focused on their own “rigid propaganda machine”.
The Duchess announced the second series with a short video on her Instagram page in which she danced in celebration in her garden.
The clip was captioned: “Lettuce romaine calm… or not (!) because I’m thrilled to share that Season 2 of With Love, Meghan, is coming.”
The lifestyle show depicts Meghan showing her famous friends and other guests how to “elevate” the otherwise mundane, such as decorating cream cheese sandwiches and egg dishes with edible flowers and leaving homemade bath salts and popcorn on guests’ bedside tables.
Despite widespread criticism, it debuted in Netflix’s top 10 in both the UK and the US.
The Duchess celebrated the milestone on her Instagram page, adding: “Thank you to all of you around the world who are tuning in.”
The story was shortly followed with a reel of clips of her cooking and gardening, captioned: “Oh, how I love ASMR!
“If you’re loving Season 1, just wait until you see the fun we cooked up on Season 2!
“Thanks for joining the party, and an endless thanks to the amazing team and crew who helped bring it all to life! @netflix”
The clip highlighted sounds such as bacon sizzling in a pan, eggs cracking, pepper being ground and vegetables and plants being chopped and snipped.
Meghan’s business venture, As Ever, was launched to coincide with the show, after a series of delays and hiccups.
The products available for sale from the spring include “raspberry spread in keepsake packaging” and limited-edition wildflower honey with honeycomb, as well as flower sprinkles “for beautifying meals and sweet treats” and dried cookie and crepe mixes.
The Duchess revealed that the dried shortbread mix was inspired by her “time in England”.
She told her followers in a newsletter that her business, As Ever, would sell items representing small moments that brought joy.
“Crunchy and delicious shortbread cookies that remind me of my time in England, with tiny flower sprinkles to add extra beauty and charm to enjoy each delicate bite,” she said.
The revelation may come as a surprise to some, after Meghan so publicly railed against her three years living in the UK.
She told Oprah Winfrey in a televised interview in March 2021 that she found life within the Royal family so difficult that at times she “didn’t want to be alive any more”.
She said she did not get help when she asked for it and at one point, thought she “could not feel lonelier”.
In both the show and media interviews to promote it, the Duchess has made a point of insisting that she should now be known as Meghan Sussex rather than Meghan Markle.
On one episode, she corrected her friend Mindy Kaling, telling her: “You keep saying, Meghan Markle, you know, I’m Sussex now.
“You have kids, and you go, ‘now I share my name with my children’… I didn’t know how meaningful it would be to me, but it just means so much to go ‘this is our family name, our little family name’.”
In the Sussexes’ 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview, Meghan suggested that she could not bear the thought of changing her name as she discussed her struggles marrying into the royal family.
“I nearly lost my name, there’s the loss of identity,” she said.
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