Meghan Markle’s Netflix show bombshells – awkward Harry, pregnancy revelation and rude joke

Meghan Markle’s crunch Netflix series has finally dropped after weeks of anticipation – and it has already set tongues wagging.

With Love, Meghan hit the streaming platform this morning and shows the Duchess of Sussex share cookery and hosting tips and tricks with a whole host of famous faces. The show is being seen as a make-or-break moment for the Sussexes, who signed a multimillion-pound deal with Netflix five years ago.

And already viewers have been pouring over the series, which includes a very fleeting appearance from Prince Harry, Meghan’s song about bacon, her new surname revelation and an apparent dig at royal life…

Surname correction

In the second episode of the series, Meghan invites pal Mindy Kaling to help her prepare for a children’s party. As they chat, the eating habits of the Sussexes are revealed, and when the comedian asks how to season eggs, the duchess replies: “Well I have a family, a husband, who no matter what meal is put in front of him before he tastes it puts salt on, so I try to under salt.”

Later Kaling asks whether she began cooking at home or picked it up later and Meghan replies: “I was a latch-key kid so I grew up with a lot of fast food and also a lot of TV tray dinners. It feels like such a different time but that was so normal with the microwavable kids meals…”

Then when the actress uses Meghan’s maiden name, the duchess speaks with pride about being a Sussex: “You keep saying, Meghan Markle, you know, I’m Sussex now. You have kids, and you go, ‘now I share my name with my children’…I didn’t know how meaningful it would be to me, but it just means so much to go ‘this is our family name, our little family name’.”

Jam mystery

Mindy was one of the lucky 50 celebs who was sent a jar of Meghan’s American Riviera Orchard jam last year, but revealed it left her with a big question.

The jam jars were numbered one to 50, so Mindy jokingly asked if this meant she was ranked with Meghan’s other pals. Speaking during the second episode of With Love, Meghan, she asks: “When I received that in the mail, a box of your preserves, it was probably one of the most glamorous moments of my life.

“Then I looked at the label and it said there were like 50. And I of course, as a very hierarchical person was like who are these other 50? Does having a lower number make me more special, or does having a higher number make me more special?”

Meghan closes her eyes before saying: “Oh my God.” Mindy then asks if she was ranked, to which Meghan laughs and replies: “I did not think about it. It was not a ranking, it was just let me share them. And then people started to take it very personally.”

Mindy then jokes: “People like me.” She admits she immediately went on Instagram to see who else got one – zooming in on the numbers to check what other people got. Meghan says: “Anyone who got 50 jars that I was making on my stove in my actual kitchen at my house, I hope they all felt like ‘no, I want to share this with you’’.”

However Meghan does reveal she saved the number one jar for her mum, Doria, as it “felt like the right thing to do”. Mindy describes it as “extremely good” and said lots of people asked to taste it. “You know what I told them? Get your own jar”, she jokingly adds. Meghan also tells Mindy she has two new flavours, raspberry and peach, in what appears to be a potential plug for her new lifestyle brand which is expected to drop soon.

Heartbreaking death

In the same episode, Meghan shares her regret at not reaching out to an old teacher before he passed away.

While preparing food using edible flowers with actress and producer Mindy Kaling, she recalls spending a lot of time in the garden of her primary school. She explains: “I learnt from Mr Benn. Mr Benn was my teacher.

“I just learnt recently that he passed away and I wish I had told Mr Benn how much it meant to me and how much I learnt and how much I retained. He taught me how to compost and about the garden. You grow up and you think wow, those things you learn when you’re young.”

Meghan attended the Little Red School House – now called the Hollywood Schoolhouse – in LA between the ages of two and 11. She was at the prestigious private nursery and kindergarten at the same time as Scarlett Johansson.

Awkward Harry

For viewers wanting to see a glimpse of Prince Harry in the series, they have to wait until the last 10 minutes in the final episode when the appears at a garden brunch Meghan throws for her family, including mum Doria, and friends.

She introduces Harry to the camera at the brunch party and he awkwardly waves. After they kiss and hug and look at the spread of food Meghan has made, the prince tells her: “Well done. You did a great job.”. Meghan adds: “Thank you” before Harry says: “I love it.”

Royal dig

At the same party in the final episode, Meghan gives a speech about her new business venture, As Ever. The launch of As Ever and her new Instagram account comes off the back of her previous successful lifestyle blog, The Tig, which Meghan closed down after becoming engaged to Harry before becoming a royal.

And in a speech at the end of the final episode, she drops a veiled dig about how she missed her ‘creativity’. She says: “I just want to raise a glass to you guys. This feels like a new chapter that I’m so excited that I’m able to share and I’ve been able to learn from all of you.

“So I just thank you for all the love and support. And here we go, there’s a business! All of that is part of that creativity that I’ve missed so much, so thank you for loving me so much and celebrating with me.”

Bacon song

Elsewhere in the second episode, Meghan talks about her love of cooking breakfast for her family. She reveals: “I wake up every morning and I really take a lot of pride in making breakfast for my family. Mornings are fast, got to get the kids to school. I think that’s why I’m comfortable with this pace.”

She also reveals how bacon is also a favourite breakfast staple at home and adds: “I find when I’m cooking bacon, my kitchen very immediately becomes full of husband and three dogs. It’s not my perfume that’s bringing them all in. My bacon brings all the boys to the yard” – referencing the song Milkshake by Kelis.

Turnip fluster

In the final episode, Meghan chats with Alice Waters, an American chef famed for pioneering the farm-to-table movement. Alice encourages Meghan to try a small Tokyo turnip.

Meghan admits that turnip is not her favourite vegetable but appears to be taken by the new way of eating it. She tells her guest as she gets flustered: “You’re watching me fall in love, it’s very awkward! I’m so sorry, I’m blushing!”

Family photos

Meghan shares a selection of unseen photos and personal videos during the programme, which is sure to delight fans.

During the episode featuring Delfina Blaquier, she shares a video of the two of them out hiking with Prince Harry and Nacho Figueras. Delfina runs up behind Meghan to give her a fright, leaving the rest of the group in fits of the giggles.

In another episode, Meghan shares a previously unseen snap from her baby shower when she was pregnant with Prince Archie. While snaps of the food and flowers have previously been seen online, this is the first time we’ve seen a snap of Meghan actually enjoying the event.

She’s standing in front of a beautifully laid table wearing a navy and white polka dot dress. She beams at the camera as she holds her growing baby bump.

Bee voice

In episode one called Hello Honey!, it features Meghan’s friend Daniel Martin as she prepares a “thoughtful guest basket”. It begins with Meghan harvesting honey from bees as she said: “The biggest thing is keeping a low tone – talk in our bee voice”.

Meghan dressed in a beekeepers’ suit talks about being scared of handling the bees but described it as “beautiful to be this connected”. Meghan whispers to a beekeeper who is helping her: “You know what it is? It’s like also that reminder to do something that scares you a little bit. I think that’s part of it, but I’m trying to stay in the calm of it because it’s beautiful to be this connected.”