I’m writing this on Tuesday morning, having watched absolutely nothing of With Love, Meghan’s Season 2. I will get to it! I will start it later today. Right now, I’m just reading and analyzing the coverage of WLM. In particular, I’m enjoying the wistfulness of the British coverage. One of the British press’s storylines today is “Meghan misses the UK!” This is because two of Meghan’s WLM guests were British – Tan France and Clare Smyth. Having lived in the UK for two years, Meghan’s memories are not entirely sour, and she notes at least one thing she enjoyed from her time there: a radio station.
She misses an oldies radio station: The Duchess of Sussex has admitted for the first time that there is at least one thing she misses about the UK since she quit royal duties to start a new life in California: Magic FM. Meghan said that she missed “the radio” in general in Britain and in particular Magic, the digital station known for playing nostalgic pop songs which also broadcasts on FM in London. When she tells France that she misses Magic FM, he tells her, “That’s such a grandma station,” to which Meghan replies: “I’ll be that grandma!”
Harry said ILY first: Although Harry does not appear in person, pictures of him are shown on screen and Meghan frequently refers to “my husband”. She tells her guest Tan France, a fashion consultant on the makeover programme Queer Eye, that while they were dating Harry was the first one to say “I love you” before she confirmed that she felt the same.
Clare Smyth made fried chicken for the Sussexes’ wedding afterparty: In the new series Meghan was reunited with Clare Smyth, the first woman from the UK to achieve three Michelin stars. Smyth catered the Sussexes’ wedding reception in 2018. While the menu at her restaurant Core, in Notting Hill, includes scallop tartare and herring roe, she said she was tasked by the couple to produce fried chicken for the wedding “after party”. Smyth said: “It’s not something that I typically do — we had to try and create a recipe for fried chicken — and we did and we kept it. We still do it — our only off-menu item.”
The importance of roast chicken: Meghan said that roast chicken had been a key ingredient in her romance with Harry, revealing she made the dish on the night he proposed to her. It featured in the wedding breakfast alongside maps showing guests where the food for the meal had been sourced. One of the tables was called “Cilantro”, the US term for coriander. Speaking about the night of the proposal she said: “I roasted a chicken the night my husband proposed to me.” She said that at the time she was “still having a lot of challenges with the conversion of Celsius and Fahrenheit” and, as a result, “made a horrible chicken that night. I mean, truly terrible”. Meghan says that she now makes roast chicken for her family “at least once a week”.
Marshmallows from scratch??! In the new series, Meghan is seen flower-arranging, candle-making and working a pottery wheel. She explains how to pack an overnight bag for a weekend away (a silk pillowcase is included as well as family photographs) and how to make marshmallows from scratch.
Harry doesn’t like cinnamon or lobster: Meghan shows viewers a baseball cap adorned with “PH 40” that she had specially made for her husband and his friends to mark his 40th birthday party in September 2024. Yet when she tells José Andrés, the chef and humanitarian, that Harry doesn’t like lobster, he jokes: “And you married him?” In another scene Meghan says Harry doesn’t like cinnamon, either.
Archie & Lili’s transatlantic accents: Speaking about their children Archie, six, and Lilibet, four, Meghan says that while they have adopted some British pronunciations such as zebra rather than the US “zeebra”, they follow her when it comes to the American names for food terms “because I guess Papa’s not cooking so much”.
Harry doesn’t like cinnamon?? The taste or the smell or both? How does he get through the holiday season in America, because cinnamon is everywhere? And we heard in the trailer that he doesn’t like lobster. Harry’s very meat-and-potatoes, isn’t he? No shade, I like simple meals most of the time too. As for Meghan’s love for what sounds like an oldies station playing yacht rock… I’m into it. And I cannot believe she’s making marshmallows from scratch! That, along with the dog biscuits in Season 1? She’s really coming for James Middleton’s wig!
Photos courtesy of Netflix.
