At the start of the second episode of her widely criticized lifestyle and cooking series With Love, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex shares how she first became passionate about making jam. To her, the process holds deep sentimental value as it reminds her of childhood memories of her grandmother preparing apple butter.
As she strolls through the lush garden of the $14.5 million Montecito estate she shares with Prince Harry, she picks blackberries and reflects: “I think my children will now associate this with coming home from school and being greeted by the warm, sugary aroma of slow-cooked fruit filling the house.”
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The former Suits actress then jokes, imagining her little ones—five-year-old Archie and three-year-old Lilibet—playfully remarking, “Oh, Mom’s making preserves again,” as they breathe in the scent of her homemade creation.
It all sounds perfectly idyllic. But there’s just one issue.
Seven thousand miles from the exclusive California neighborhood where Meghan and Harry now reside, her 80-year-old estranged father, Thomas Markle, remains distant. His mother, Doris—the very “grandmother” Meghan fondly recalls in her new Netflix series—is the one who introduced her to the tradition of jam-making.
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“Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Displays Her Baking Talents in With Love, Meghan“
Mr. Markle claims that while Doris—who passed away in 2011 at the age of 91—deeply loved Meghan, she would be turning in her grave over some of her granddaughter’s recent statements.
One such instance occurs in With Love, Meghan when the Duchess interrupts her friend, actress Mindy Kaling, for referring to her as “Meghan Markle.”
In what many viewers found to be an awkwardly dismissive moment, Meghan corrects her, saying, “It’s so funny you keep saying ‘Meghan Markle,’ you know I’m ‘Sussex’ now.”
As Mindy appears puzzled, Meghan—who has only visited Sussex once—continues, “When you have kids, you realize, ‘No, I share my name with them.’ I didn’t expect it to mean so much, but now I see it as, ‘This is our family name. Our little family name.’”
Speaking for the first time about his daughter’s newest venture into entertainment—one many have dubbed a “make or break” moment for the Sussexes—Emmy award-winning Thomas Markle shared his thoughts with The Mail on Sunday. “My mother adored Meghan, but she would be heartbroken to know that Meghan no longer wants to be associated with the Markle name. My mother took pride in being a Markle, and so do I. Meghan had no issue with the name until she met Prince Harry.”
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With a sharp dose of sarcasm, he adds, “Now, I suppose I have to introduce myself as Meghan Sussex’s dad.”
Mr. Markle has been estranged from his daughter since suffering two heart attacks just before her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry. “I still don’t understand why she cut me off,” he admits, suspecting that she never truly forgave him for being absent on her wedding day.
Later, Meghan accused him of refusing to get into a car she had sent for him—despite the fact that he was hospitalized at the time.
An old photograph shows Meghan alongside her father, Thomas Markle, from whom she is now estranged.
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For Mr. Markle, who moved to the Philippines earlier this year after living in Rosarito, Mexico, the idea of watching his daughter’s Netflix series is simply too painful.
“I haven’t watched the show, but I’ve seen plenty of clips and read numerous articles,” he admits. “Maybe one day I’ll sit down and watch it, but I’m not sure.”
After viewing snippets online—where Meghan tends to her bees, cooks in the kitchen of a rented home near her estate, and even transfers store-bought pretzels from one plastic bag to another—he feels she comes across as “inauthentic.”
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Mr. Markle—an experienced Hollywood veteran who has worked on productions like Married… with Children and General Hospital—shares his candid thoughts: “Cooking shows are painfully dull unless the host genuinely loves what they’re doing.”
“You need to be real to keep an audience engaged. If you’re stuffing a turkey’s a**, it has to look like you’re actually enjoying it. Sadly, Meghan has never been genuine. She overthinks everything. She’s not spontaneous—every word, every move is rehearsed. It’s funny to me because I recognize all her practiced expressions and mannerisms.”*
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“She’s Trying Too Hard to Be Perfect,” Says Meghan’s Father
“I can tell when she’s putting on a show for the cameras,” Thomas Markle remarks. “She’s trying so hard to appear perfect that she stiffens up every time the lens is on her.”
He adds, “The best cooks are relaxed, they laugh at their mistakes, they’re real. But she just wants to be flawless. It’s sad because she’s working so hard to stay in the spotlight.”
On Friday, reports confirmed that a second season of With Love, Meghan has already been filmed and will premiere on Netflix this summer as part of the Sussexes’ $100 million, five-year contract with the platform.
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The deal is set to expire in October, and many in Hollywood speculate that Netflix may opt not to renew it.
Just as Meghan once accused a member of the Royal Family of racism—only for the late Queen to respond with the now-famous remark, “recollections may vary”— Thomas Markle finds much of his daughter’s narrative in the show to be at odds with his own memories.
At one point, Meghan describes herself as a “latchkey kid” who relied on frozen TV dinners. “I grew up eating a lot of fast food and TV tray meals. It feels like a completely different era, but back then, microwavable kids’ meals were just normal.”
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Not quite, says Mr. Markle. He points out that from the age of 11 until she left for university at 18, Meghan lived with him full-time.
Prince Harry makes a brief appearance in a clip from the show.
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Meghan’s mother, Doria, makes a brief appearance in the show. Mr. Markle finds it “sad” that Meghan doesn’t embrace her when she arrives at a party.
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Doria was often away due to her job as a travel agent and later ran a small strip mall shop selling goods from around the world.
The claim that Meghan was a “latchkey” child doesn’t sit well with Mr. Markle, who insists he personally picked her up from school daily or arranged for a car when work kept him busy.
“Yes, we had TV dinners occasionally—what family doesn’t?” he says. “But I worked two jobs, so money was never an issue. We dined out at least three times a week and ordered takeout the rest of the time.”
Meghan’s upbringing was far from a diet of fast food. Her favorite restaurant was Musso & Frank in Hollywood, a legendary and pricey establishment that has been serving patrons since 1919.
Icons like Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Marilyn Monroe once dined in its signature red-leather booths, indulging in steaks that typically cost between £35 and £50.
She also had a fondness for Hamburger Habit, a now-closed eatery on the Sunset Strip that was frequented by stars such as Steven Spielberg, Elizabeth Taylor, and Cher.
Mr. Markle clarifies: “Like any single dad after a long day at work, I’d occasionally heat up a TV dinner. But most of the time, we ate out.”
Skincare entrepreneur Vicky Tsai joins her friend for a segment of the show.
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Mr. Markle recalls, “After school, I’d either pick Meghan up myself and take her out to eat, or if I was busy, I’d send a car to bring her to the set. She spent her childhood around the productions I worked on—she was never a latchkey kid.”
He adds, “We lived in a fantastic neighborhood full of restaurants, and we dined out constantly. On weekends, when I wasn’t working, I’d take her to dance class and then treat her and her friends to a meal.”
Mr. Markle also shares that while his former wife is an excellent cook, Meghan never showed much interest in the kitchen as a child.
Reflecting on his own childhood in small-town Pennsylvania, he recalls how his mother would make homemade spreads like apple butter to stretch the family’s budget.
To Mr. Markle, his daughter’s show—though aspirational to some—feels “out of touch with the real world.”
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“Meghan should focus on affordable meals and teach people how to make their food budget go further,” he suggests. “I grew up in Pennsylvania, and my mother was an incredible cook—she made hearty meals with meat, potatoes, and cabbage. Apple butter is a simple, delicious spread, and it doesn’t cost much.”
He believes the audience tuning into Meghan’s show isn’t made up entirely of the wealthy and privileged. “I think people would appreciate it more if she showcased budget-friendly dishes.”
His sharpest criticism was aimed at Meghan’s extravagant fruit platters: “I don’t think most people these days can just drop $90 on fruit. She’s completely disconnected from everyday people.”
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“She puts edible flowers on everything. Nobody has edible flowers just lying around,” Mr. Markle remarks. “Sending kids to school with edible flowers on their food is ridiculous. Kids don’t like them, and if you put them in a lunchbox, they’d probably get teased.”
Meghan’s cooking has also faced criticism, particularly her one-pot spaghetti method. In the show, she sautés vegetables, adds raw spaghetti—which she refers to as “noodles”—pours in water, and then covers the pot.
Mr. Markle shakes his head. “Who cooks spaghetti like that? You always boil the water first, then add the pasta. That’s Cooking 101.”
Ironically, the last time he saw Meghan in person was over a meal—Thanksgiving 2017, shortly after she got engaged to Prince Harry.
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Harry had arranged for the family to celebrate in style, borrowing a lavish mansion in Los Angeles from a friend. That Thanksgiving, Doria, Meghan, and Tom enjoyed a classic feast with turkey and all the trimmings.
“Harry couldn’t be there, but we had a lovely time,” Mr. Markle recalls. “Meghan and Doria did the cooking, and later, Meghan shared a photo on Tig [her former lifestyle blog], showing my hand and Doria’s hand holding a gravy bowl. We had a wonderful meal together—then I left. I never saw Meghan or Doria again.”
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