With Love, Meghan - criticisms and genuine concern for her mental health

[Lavenderfarmcottage]

I am probably going to be flogged for posting this and chased down the dark laneways of Mumsnet as bystanders yell “Shame Shame Shame”.

I weighed in yesterday about a thread on Meghan and her new Netflix show. I made some criticisms about the trailer and certain cliche’s in the way it was produced. Hypocritical of me to be posting this but I feel guilty and have reflected. I am actually looking forward to watching it on Netflix and my criticisms were pretty minor and not exclusive to her show - it’s a common issue I have.

Meghan has struggled with mental health because of criticism. The reaction to ‘With Love… Meghan’ has been fairly brutal.

I think it would be really good if we refrained from saying anything negative about the series or Meghan Markle. That’s not the point of this thread.

I want to know if you think the criticisms have gone too far. The Princess of Wales is not on the scene and we are protective of her rightly so. That leaves Meghan as media fodder though.

Do you think it’s time Meghan and Harry were given a break ? I do. I think we’ve been far too harsh and the criticisms have gotten out of hand.

I think we also forget the cultural relevance. If we went into the homes or Gwyneth, Julia Roberts etc and I would probably feel the divide too. American culture doesn’t apologise for wealth and hollywoood is highly competitive.

Having a confident demeanour, throwing your head back Julia Roberts style when you laugh and unapologetically selling $$$ vagina products like Gwyneth Paltrow is how it over there. People talk loudly and confidently and are polished and rehearsed especially in the
Competitive world of Hollywood…

Are we all being too hard ?

Hang on, she would have led a life of considerable luxury and fame had she stayed- a life of much greater luxury post Suits. And no, Harry couldn't go off to Nantucket but they could have led a reasonably low key life in Frogmore had they chosen to do so.
When they left they explicitly said they wanted to do Royal tours in the Commonwealth on behalf of the Royal family, but just live in North America and become financially independent. They could have done ALL of that without Oprah, Netflix and the lashing out at the RF. She could have literally made this same TV show when she first moved, and would have had more credibility than she does now.
But once you court this kind of publicity (aka of the gossipy RF kind) then you are now in a different category.

I'll be honest- I'm in the US and literally no one I know cares much about this show or beyond Oprah (after which there was some sympathy) cares much for Harry or Meghan. I read the UK press (because I went to University there and I'm a bit of an Anglophile) and there is a LOT more about H&M in the UK than in the US. This is a problem because I suspect the latter is supposed to be more of their natural market.

But that is how she chooses to live, putting herself into the public eye for attention?

For someone wanting privacy, renting another house to play pretend-house with paid 'friends', and sell it as her life, is a strange way to achieve this.
Her and her bitchy entourage have pulled no punches in slagging off the RF and the institution, but cries wolf when there's any criticism back.

you do realise that she’s an actress, she’s acting, nothing we say or do affects the real person does it? She’s acting.

She’s a celeb making a cooking show because she a celeb, not because she’s a renowned chef.

That’s fine, but she can’t expect to be free of critique or media attention just because she married royalty.

If she wants a quiet life out of the limelight then she could very easily have one. They’ve made millions already. But producing new shows isn’t the way to do that.

She is there for our entertainment, she’s creating a show for our entertainment.

I think Meghan is far stronger than people think and well able for the criticism.
Im not a huge fan of hers but people seem to enjoy hating her because of the Royals. I don’t really care for, or about any of them but Meghan is far more business minded than people think.

I liked The Tig and enjoyed watching her in Suits, I suspect if she had continued to be herself and be involved in things she was actually interested in rather than trying to curate an image she thought people wanted she'd probably be a lot more successful. If she doesn't like the criticism of the reality type projects maybe she'll be tempted back into acting where it won't be as personal?

I just watched the trailer, strangely it wasn't as cringe as I thought it would be - way less cringe than 'Harry & Meghan' for one. I won't be watching her new show as it's not interesting for me, however I can't help but think (1) she can't really read the room and (2) she seems fake. Not that my opinion matters - I also "dislike" other celebrities, e.g. Adele, for no reason as I don't know them. I don't think Adele or Meghan lose any sleep over my opinion, as they should!

The ladybugs in the trailer were a blatant, exact copy. Maybe she'll acknowledge that in the show, but she has a history of plagiarism (without quoting the source) in her speeches and other areas. This is one example of her setting herself up for criticism.

I've always disliked her brand of feminism and don't want her to speak on my behalf "As a women." Now she's taking it a notch lower with her luxury tradwife trash.

She really doesn't

She seems quite determined to keep reinventing herself publicly until she finds her "brand". Fair play to her really. It must be literally exhausting being Meghan! 😳

So yesterday you were criticising her and today you’ve reflected and want to give her a break. Lol. I don’t believe your intentions here at all. You’re clearly hoping to get the usual obsessives to make shitty comments about her while pretending you’re being nice. 🙄

Which bit was hilarious?

It looks like a sweet show, and there’s a clearly a market for it. Social media is awash with women in lovely homes showing how they make lovely things.

I can’t see what’s so funny?

Agreed.

Even if @Lavenderfarmcottage wants a return to the UK this is vanishingly unlikely to happen whether or not this show is a success. They have an existential dilemma, in that they don't have a USP beyond their royal connections. When they first left, I thought they would denounce the monarchy as being outdated, and unfit for the 21st century. Instead they doubled down, insisted their kids be Prince and Princesses and never fail to remind us that they are the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Had they done the former, at least in the US they would have been able to sell this story of their radical break.

Right now everyone knows that the reason she has a Netflix show where she is cooking despite zero credentials (except for a blog she once wrote...I used to have a blog too in the early 2000s where I shared student recipes...does that count??) is because she married a Royal prince. So she's being judged (harshly) on those grounds. That there are so many interesting chefs we would love to see on TV but instead we have Meghan (I would love love love a second season of Salt Fat Acid Heat with Samin Nosrat who trained under Alice Waters...).

I don’t know if I’d be standing behind a white woman on a balcony, who does the same job as me and accepting that she gets way more perks, money and financial freedom. It wouldn’t work.

This is just the most bizarre point of view. Neither skin colour nor a personal sense of self worth have any relevance here.

Catherine is a future queen (consort). William and George are future kings. It was just absurd that Meghan considered herself as equivalent to Catherine. Harry clearly failed to set out the reality in his keenness to ensure this relationship didn't go the same way as those with Cressida or Chelsy.

Harry is equivalent to Princess Margaret. What profile do her children or grandchildren have these days? Harry's children would be wholly irrelevant in a few decades anyway, even if they were raised / living in the UK. That's not racism, just the reality of the line of succession.

She isn’t stupid. Any publicity is good publicity. I’m sure she’s fine.

Karma is not a bitch, it’s sacred to Buddhists. Stop misusing the term.

“England”?

You’re not British are you?

Are you the language police and if so what is your rank and serial number?

Eh? Is this satire.

Meghan is lifelong talentless grifter. This pointless show is another on a long line of crap ‘content’ that she has been associated with. It serves as nothing more than ridicule fodder for the public and media.

Meanwhile 🤴 🥕 has to woo a Hollywood actress and break it to her that his palace is infact a 2 bedroom cottage.

My heart bleeds that she had to slum it at Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor Estate and also turned down a hideous country estate that Charles offered them, poor lamb, it must have been so hard for her.

She's a pound shop influencer who reaps what she sows. If you put yourself out there, you get it back in spades which is why most sane people don't.

Oh look, she's bought a cake and pretended she made it. They have enough money for a nice life.

@Choccyscofffy Except she's not on IG doing DIY- she has been giving a Netflix cooking show that she's fronting solo despite no credentials in that regard. Like I said, Samin Nosrat who wrote and made the excellent Salt Fat Acid Heat, only got 1 season. A second season of her excellent show would be better than a former actress socialite teaching people how to host. But maybe I am in a minority?