Meghan Markle’s new lifestyle series With Love, Meghan has sparked a wave of criticism, with royal commentator Daniela Elser questioning the timing and relevance of the show in today’s economic climate. In a scathing column for News.com.au, Elser expressed her disbelief at the content of the series, which features cooking and lifestyle tips from the Duchess of Sussex.
“Having watched four of the eight episodes, which came out on Tuesday night in Australia, I too need to express my authentic feelings which are, what the actual hell?” Elser wrote. The commentator argued that Markle’s show appears disconnected from the realities of 2025, particularly given the global cost-of-living crisis.
One scene, in particular, stood out as emblematic of what Elser described as the show’s “absurdity.” “The scene that perfectly encapsulates the absurdity – and just how detached from 2025 and the Zeitgeist this show is – comes when Meghan whips up two jars of jam, using nine cups of fresh raspberries,” she noted.
Citing current Los Angeles grocery prices, Elser estimated that the raspberries alone would cost around $36.55—an amount that many families struggling with rising food prices simply cannot afford. “It’s hard to think of a worse time than now for the Duchess of Sussex’s show to come out when the number one reason Donald Trump was re-elected was his repeated promises to bring down food prices while the world is in the grip of [a] cost-of-living crisis,” Elser remarked.
She also pointed out the extravagant nature of Markle’s presentations, arguing that they feel out of step with reality. “The cost of a single one of Meghan’s crudité platters would be enough to feed a Nebraskan family of four for several days,” she observed. Furthermore, Markle’s use of decorative edible flowers throughout the series only added to the sense of excess, Elser claimed.
“To buy the mass of edible flowers she persists in strewing, you could restock a book-ban-ravaged public library,” she quipped. Ultimately, Elser found With Love, Meghan to be more of a tone-deaf relic from 2024 than an aspirational lifestyle show for today’s audience.
“It feels like a relic of 2024 that strikes a loud, discordant note because that’s exactly what it is,” she concluded, noting that much of the footage had been filmed last year. As Markle’s foray into the lifestyle space faces scrutiny, critics are left questioning whether the show’s message can resonate in an era of economic hardship.
