Somewhere among the crudités, preserves, and edible flowers in With Love, Meghan, you may notice a tragedy: The Duchess of Sussex would have made an excellent working royal. Is this not their whole thing? Using the soft power of images to hide how little they have to say? Perfecting party tricks because they need no other skills? The eight-episode Netflix cooking show claims our lives can be “elevated” with just a tiny bit of plotting. (Serving a basket of croissants with strawberry preserves and a couple fresh strawberries, for example, can tell “a strawberry story.”) Meghan wraps gifts, works peonies into wild floral arrangements, speaks enough Argentinian Spanish to get by, and prints menus for brunch parties in her own chic calligraphy.
The whole thing is soothing and perfectly forgettable—except for these lines, which I plan to incorporate into my own story, to the confusion and alarm of my friends. (All are spoken by the Duchess herself, unless otherwise noted in parentheses.)
- I use a lot of arnica in my house—that’s toddler life.
- They’re like green pearls. (Episode 1 guest Daniel, re: peas)
- This is literally cozy. (Daniel, re: Meghan’s one-pot pasta)
- It’s like that Beyoncé song, “Cozy.”
- Because I spent time with the beekeeper, I have this wax.
- You can get wax from your local beekeeper.
- The sweetness of this fruit is a real thing.
- I like just a wink of fruit flavor in my bubbles.
- It’s so funny you keep saying "Meghan Markle"—you know I’m Sussex now.
- When I think of honey, I think of bees.
- I love birdsong.
- Anything with whimsy is great for all kids.
- I need to impress this man! Not just with my donuts—with my tidiness, with my kitchen savvy, my cleanliness.
- Did you know that L.A. is the donut capital of the world?
- All good stock starts with water.
- We met through our husbands, who play polo together.
- Floral ice cubes, why not?
- The mah-jongg becomes the background of the expansion of friendship.
- Seems like you love cooking. (Episode 6 guest Chef Ramon)
- It’s always nice to decant your condiments on the table.
- I love hearing the meaningful stories behind things.
- Has anyone in the world ever been so tickled by the sight of lettuces?
- I just feel like, our love of cooking … it’s a great thing. (Episode 8 guest Alice Waters)
