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News just in from Montecito: With Love, Meghan has been nominated for an Emmy! Who saw that coming? Now true, it is a Daytime Emmy, which is to the actual Emmys what Bargain Hunt is to Slow Horses, but still. If nothing else, the nomination of WLM for outstanding lifestyle series answers the question that has been puzzling those of us who watched it and wrote on our notes: what the hell just happened here? How do you describe a programme with no premise? Two whole series plus a Christmas special of elegant wafting and neutral separates with no discernible point? So it’s a relief that, thanks to the Daytime Emmy nominations, we now know that what the Duchess of Sussex made was a lifestyle programme, as opposed to a cookery programme, or a sun-kissed Blue Peter, or a protracted fever dream with great eye make-up and Princess Diana’s watch.
As an act of penitence, because I come from Manchester, not Montecito, and therefore didn’t realise it was a lifestyle programme, I have watched it all again. I can confirm that it is quite literally outstanding, packed with so many standout moments that it was a dark day for civilisation when Netflix canned it.
The trailer promised that Meghan would elevate the ordinary and create wonder in every moment, and she did, just not necessarily the sort of wonder she hoped. Between the faffing about with edible flowers and incomprehensible “hosting” tips, WLM is like some sort of deviant hybrid of Annabel Karmel and Pippa Middleton, although even Pippa Middleton — who wrote a book telling us chairs were useful to sit on — didn’t think that bookbinding might be fun. Did the Emmy committee appreciate the episode called It’s Way Past Our Bread-time? Why? What about Just for the Halibut? Did that make any more sense in LA than it does in London? How about the episode where she does pottery painting with Naomi Osaka and tells her she’s rubbish at it? Or the one where she explains, at considerable length, how to wrap a present in a tablecloth? That the episode on bookbinding made the final cut is testament to something but not necessarily skill at making television programmes.
Either way, I have my own reasons for thinking that WLM is outstanding and at the top of the list it’s a dead heat between everything Meghan says and everything she does. Consider, for example, the following dialogue between Meghan and various guests. For context, bear in mind that this is a woman who once approvingly quoted a poem with the line “the parental tentacles of tradition no longer define her truth”. Over to you, Megs.
“I love that you make gumbo sometimes.”
“I do.”
“Have we ever cooked together before?”
“No.”
“Are you comfortable cutting onions?”
“Yes.”
“I love your love of scarves, so I decided to make some.”
“Is this so wild that I do flower arranging and calligraphy?”
“I’m rethinking baking to be a little more spontaneous.”
Pointing to a selection of vases: “Choose a vessel. See what speaks to you.”
And once, to camera, while grinding spices: “Spice grinding!”
As part of Netflix’s multimillion-pound lifestyle programming, we learnt that Meghan once had a job on a game show that came with health insurance; that she thinks Clare Smyth, who has three Michelin stars, is a good cook; and that one way to greet someone who you claim is a dear friend is to say, “It’s so nice to meet you!”
Or perhaps instead the nominations committee was drawn to the outstanding activities on offer in WLM. These include: watching someone fry an egg; watching bread toast; making rosewater (pick rose petals, add water); making French toast; making your own advent calendar and crackers; putting a slice of dried orange in a champagne glass; eating pears with a knife and fork and serving quiche for breakfast; arranging raw broccoli in a circle and describing it as a great way of modernising a Christmas wreath.
Alas, we must wait until October 30 to know if WLM wins, which is a shame. We note in passing that the ceremony will be held at a theatre in Los Angeles, which lies halfway between a McDonald’s and the Museum of Death. If you can’t wait that long for a fix of Meghan, her guest slot on MasterChef Australia airs on July 26, a gracious cameo on a hugely popular programme that she filmed while on a visit to Australia this year for which she was being paid, something she was peeved to note on an earlier visit didn’t happen to an HRH.
But the competition for a Daytime Emmy is stiff, so who knows if she’ll win? To give you an idea of the nominees, if they were held here we’d be talking Bargain Hunt or Homes Under the Hammer. Over there Meghan, our dearly departed Duchess of Sussex, is up against a programme about “the high stakes world of competitive canine sports”; a “heartwarming home renovation series” called George to the Rescue, which seems to be the American equivalent of Love Your Garden; a programme about motherhood; and — my personal favourite — The Wizard of Paws, starring a vet who makes prosthetic limbs. Can The Wizard of Paws compete with spice grinding? Is frying an egg more compelling than a performing dog? If WLM is ultimately deemed less outstanding than a prosthetic paw, is it too much to hope that Meghan will be there in person to hear it, with a camera trained on her reaction?
No doubt, whether she wins or not, in the fullness of time she’ll announce that she did, because that is her truth, and that is what happens when you’re no longer bound by the parental tentacles of tradition. Ultimately what the nominations prove is that she left the royal family to be lumped in with an actress from Days of Our Lives (outstanding lead performance in a daytime drama series) and someone called George who is the American equivalent of Alan Titchmarsh. Perhaps one day it will be worth it.