2 days Ago By Kate Halfpenny
The thing I still can’t quite figure out about Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, after all these years is whether she takes herself entirely seriously, or whether there’s a sly wink hidden below the endless tasteful white clothes, sun-dappled proclamations and curated aesthetics. Is her earnest act – more Lady Bountiful than duchess in exile – for real or a fabulously acted stitch-up? She slices veggies, she drizzles artisanal oil. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, has relaunched as an opulent trad wife.
Credit: Netflix Meghan’s return to Instagram, three years after she flagged she would be back, gives us few clues. She broke radio silence on New Year’s Day with a short video showing her drawing “2025” in the sand as if it was the first time anyone had ever done it. Then we had the piece de resistance a day later, a trailer flagging Netflix’s new eight-part cookery series called With Love, Meghan .
Out on January 15, it’s her first solo venture for the streaming giant and Meghan promises, giggling, that she’s embracing “playfulness over perfection”. She chops veggies – incredible! – drizzles artisanal olive oil on hummus, freezes flowers in ice cubes. She talks about “surprising people with moments that let them know I was really thinking of them” and it makes you want to yell: “Lady, you are literally just cooking.
” No, no. In Meghan’s world, slicing cake and whacking together bruschetta is done as if it’s rare art, with pals standing around cooing at the skills on display: “I’ve always loved taking something pretty ordinary and elevating it.” We hoi polloi might describe it as having people over for a feed and doing something more than a supermarket roast chook.
So many questions. Is she earnestly presenting us with her sponge cake as a transformative symbol? Or is there a private joke playing out behind the wedding-worthy floral arrangements about how easily we fall into debate over her every move?.
