The Duchess of Sussex’s latest Netflix show has dropped and away from the festive crafting and cooking tips, there are key signs of her future plans…
Harry and Meghan share a kiss on the show(Image: Netflix)
Meghan is apparently a woman with a plan. Calling all serial Christmas preppers: get ready to wrap your children’s teddies using a wine bottle, add lavender scent oils to Christmas crackers and serve a broccoli and aspargus wreath as Meghan Markle’s festive hosting tips have officially arrived.
The Duchess of Sussex’ hour long Christmas special has landed on Netflix and it’s brimming with recipes, crafts and food tips from celeb chefs. But away from the glossy Ina Garten-esque tricks, Meghan gives viewers the most intimate glimpse into her family life yet, with Harry making a two-minute cameo having been practically invisible in her last two seasons. Her children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, are also front of mind and Megan even reflects “nostalgically” on her time living in the UK before the couple’s shock royal exodus.
Meghan’s latest show comes after her two previous seasons were widely panned by critics, and a new “downgraded” deal with Netflix ringing alarm bells with PR experts. But what lies behind the rare PDA, cookie crafting and jolly prancing around a Christmas tree farm? As the latest edition of With Love, Meghan, lands on the streaming giant’s platform, we ask body language and communications expert Judi James to decipher the secrets behind the show, including how Harry really feels about finally landing a small part on the glitzy series…
Meghan give tips on how to decorate your tree(Image: PA)
‘Mama’ Meghan and ‘child-like’ Harry
In a rare sign of public affection, the duke and duchess share a quick smooch on the set of her cooking show before bantering with each other about Harry’s spice tolerance. Top Chef star Tom Collichio joins the couple and helps whip up a festive salad while Meghan works on her mother Doria’s gumbo recipe.
Meghan warns that Harry won’t like Tom’s salad as it’s jam-packed with ingredients he doesn’t like – betroot, black olives, fennel and pickled vegetables all play a part. “I’m so excited to eat this,” she says, before warning: “He [Harry] hates all these flavours.
Harry waltzes in and is greeted with a kiss from Meghan, before declaring: “Hi guys, I smell gumbo.” But his excitement soon wanes when he realises what’s in Tom’s salad. The duke says: “Oh wow, that’s like the anti-salad. You must have known I was coming!” He joked: “Me and the salad are having this sort of eye off. It’s amazing how there’s not many things in the world that I don’t like and they are all in one bowl.”
Meghan with chef Tom Colichio(Image: PA)
The banter continues as the duchess admits she’s used a spicier sausage to make the dish – one that Harry isn’t used to. “We’ll get you a little towel because he’s gonna sweat,” she jokes.
After tucking into the gumbo – one of his favourites – Harry teases Meghan and says: “I’m not sure it’s as good as your mum’s”. The cheeky remark leaves her in shock as she animatedly says: “What? Oh my gosh!” and then adds “What a good thing to say for your mother-in-law”.
Analysing the exchange, Judi, speaking on behalf of casino.ca, says: “As love language goes it looks rather maternal and this is compounded when, surprisingly, her guest’s wife calls Meghan ‘Mama’ when she speaks to her here. The ‘Mama’ theme seems to be retained in the body language displays as Harry makes a cameo appearance towards the end of the video.
She continued: “‘Mama’ is doing some very grown-up cooking with a chef, and Harry sidles in with a very tentative and impersonal ‘Hi guys’, looking like a fish out of Gumbo here as his slightly hushed voice suggests he might be intruding rather than being the undoubted star turn.
Harry and Meghan banter with each other about his spice tolerance(Image: Netflix)
“His behaviour does everything to signal that it’s Meghan who is the star here, and that he has no desire to pull rank or to upstage her, and as a result his non-verbal displays convert to those of a child. His ‘I smell Gumbo’ comes with a lowered, submissive head and a slightly rictus smile as though he’s foraging for food. He’s rewarded by Meghan’s over-the-shoulder glance and a closed-lip smile that suggests she’s doing grown-up things here”.
It’s not the first time that experts have picked up on Harry’s submissive dynamic with motherly Meghan. The Duchess even gushed about his “childlike wonder” in a recent interview with Harpers Bazaar, revealing that it was a key trait that first attracted her to the prince.
Royal ‘nostalgia’ and ‘re-regalizing’ plans
Although her days in the Royal Family are a thing of the past, Meghan makes a rare remark on her time living in the UK in the new series, and Judi believes it marks a switch from “triggered” to “nostalgic”.
Welcoming restaurateur Will Guidara onto the show, Meghan reveals they are going to make their own personalised Christmas crackers – a British tradition that she’s putting her own stamp on.
Will, who is more unfamiliar with the concept, asks Meghan about their significance. She explains: “Living in the UK, it’s a big part of the culture for sure. Typically, people cross their arms and do it. So they sit around the table and they all pull at the same time.
“The way that I started to know them was, they’d always have some sort of fortune cookie-size joke or riddle. And something sweet.” As she makes a personalised cracker for Harry, she adds: “My husband’s has a little love letter, a chocolate, a little hat”, and she labels the cracker: “My Love” rather than: “Harry”
Meghan makes Christmas crackers for Archie and Lilibet (Image: PA)
Judi revealed: “During previous films any mention of her time in the UK has been treated with non-verbal signals to suggest she still finds it either triggering and possibly too triggering to mention directly, with just some solemn, knowing part-references like ‘back then’ or ‘he knew me before, during and after’ or that she finds it an experience to mock, like her low curtsey comedy routine or mentions of having to wear tan pantyhose etc.
“Her implication has been that it was a time to forget with something of a shudder and to put behind her now she has her freedom and new life. But the holiday season seems to have mellowed Meghan and her first reference of the UK here sees a seismic change of mood and narrative as she almost takes ownership of UK life and throws a possibly hint of a sliver of nostalgia into the mix too.”
The body languge guru added: “She performs her signature rapid blink that for Meghan is usually associated with pleasure and non-verbal ‘purring'”. The small but important reference to her life in the UK may even be a sign of what’s to come, according to Judi. She added: “There does seem to be some mellowing towards her life as a royal in the UK and even her royal family. The implication if so though, is that she might prefer to engage in any re-kindling of relations under her own terms.
Judi James thinks Meghan is showing maternal behaviour towards Harry(Image: Netflix)
“She redefines Christmas here and very firmly states how it should be seen and enacted, using her own values and principles. The crackers could be a case in point. She has warm memories of sharing crackers in the UK, but is emphatic about the fact that they should be more personalized with love notes and messages, plus filled with confetti and dried flowers.
“The thought of a royal table and guests covered with confetti and reading love notes out loud might not fit in with the cooler behaviors of the UK royals. Her raising of the royals and her regal-sounding descriptions of Lili do make it sound as though a re-regalizing could be part of her future plans”.
The new show comes after critics panned the two previous series(Image: Netflix)
Meghan’s glossy new Christmas special comes hot on the heels of the Sussex’ new downgraded Netflix deal, announced earlier this year. Harry and Meghan signed a new more flexible contract with the steaming giant, which gives the company a ‘first look’ option on any of their ideas, with the couple then able to take them elsewhere if Netflix passed them up. Their previous deal with the platform was said to be worth a staggering £75 million, but now they are reportedly getting a lot less cash.
The updated terms have led to speculation that Netflix may be distancing themselves from the couple. The first two seasons of thje Duchess’ lifestyle show, With Love, Meghan, were widely panned by critics, and ratings were lower for the second series than the first.
Speaking out on her deal with the video powerhouse, Meghan said in October: “My husband and I were in an overall deal with Netflix, and then not just similar to Higher Ground in the Obamas’ deal, once that had come to its term, the extension of it, which was such an incredible sign of the strength of our partnership, was now being in a first look deal.”
Meghan does lots of crafting in the new show(Image: PA)
“Which is also exciting, because it gives us flexibility to go to our partners first, and then at the same time, to be able to shop content that might not be the right fit for Netflix, but has a home somewhere else. So for our non-scripted team and our scripted team, we’ve been doing a lot of content development that can meet different rooms.”
Meanwhile, PR crisis expert Mark Borkowski told the Mirror that it’s a sharp change in strategy for Netflix bosses. “I think Netflix has done a very neat job of pivoting away from two very expensive people who didn’t deliver, and they’ve taken that deal off the table, and they’ve given them a modest one,” he said.
He went on to explain that the signing of the new contract shows that the streaming giant still wants to have a solid relationship with the Sussexes, but is also cautious not to spend too much money on content that may not resonate with viewers. Borkowski added: “It’s not like they’re gradually uncoupling. It’s a downgrade. Netflix are not going to expose themselves to those budgets again and it’s Netflix saying ‘Well, look, let’s have a look at your content, but we’ll pick and choose, mate’.”
Meghan has spoken out about her new Netflix deal(Image: Netflix)
Harry’s unprecedented cameo in Meghan’s Christmas special comes just weeks after the Duchess gave a candid interview about her marriage and their dynamic. In her first magazine cover since joining the Royal Family, Meghan took part in a huge Harper’s Bazaar photoshoot, plumping for a powerful bare-faced look for the glossy snaps.
But it’s her revelations about Harry that really set tongues wagging. In her most personal admission about her husband yet, Meghan revealed she was captivated by the Duke’s “childlike wonder and playfulness” when they first met. “He loves me so boldly, fully, and he also has a different perspective because he sees media that I wouldn’t,” Meghan said.
“No one in the world loves me more than him, so I know he’s always going to make sure that he has my back… you have someone who just has this childlike wonder and playfulness. I was so drawn to that, and he brought that out in me. That’s translated into every part of our life.”
