- SARAH VINE: Meghan's Netflix Christmas special is hard to swallow
- DAILY MAIL REVIEW: Meghan's sad, self-indulgent, cringy wash of beige
Meghan Markle's Netflix Christmas special was savaged by critics today - some of whom gave the 'quite mad and a little bit sad' show zero or one star for its 'numbing content'.
The Duchess of Sussex used the episode to share tips with celebrity friends on how to make crackers, as well as wrapping different types of gifts and decorating a tree.
But reviewers in the Daily Mail, Times, Guardian, Telegraph and Independent were left stunned by the 56-minute show - and not in a good way.
Giving 'With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration' zero stars out of five, the Daily Mail's reviewer Annabel Fenwick Elliott said: 'It's the syrupy hypocrisy and our hostess's deep lack of self-awareness that continue to make her and this show so unlikeable.
'If only she could lean into her waspish, Type A personality - poke a little fun at herself, even - she could just about be endearing, in a Monica-from-Friends sort of way.'
It follows the first two critically mauled seasons of With Love, Meghan, and after the Sussexes signed their new watered-down, first-look deal with Netflix in August.
Times columnist Hilary Rose described the show as 'unfathomable', adding that it featured 'four pointless crafts, three random "friends", two unseen kids, one English prince and a duchess in a pear tree, or at least making pear syrup'.
The writer wrote that guests 'queue up to say implausible things, running the gamut from moronic to trite and then emote joy'.
She added that some of the dialogue left her feeling like 'the English language has been fed through Google Translate and found wanting'.
Turning to the section on Meghan making her advent calendar featuring 'inspirational quotes and tiny perfectly wrapped gifts', Ms Rose said it was 'unimprovable, at least unless what you actually want from an advent calendar is chocolate'.
Meghan is seen with restaurateur Will Guidara in the new Netflix Christmas special
Alongside Kelly Zajfen (left) and Lindsay Roth in With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration
She added that viewers 'learn that red is a festive colour and that if you don't like cheese or pepper, you might not like a dish consisting of cheese and pepper'.
In the Telegraph's one-star review from arts and entertainment editor Anita Singh, the episode was labelled 'quite mad and a little bit sad'.
She cited the appearance of Naomi Osaka as the 'most awkward section' of the programme, adding that the tennis star 'has never met Meghan before and, judging by her expression, won't be meeting her again soon if she can help it'.
Ms Singh also said that the show reminded her of Pippa Middleton's advice in her 2012 book Celebrate, which 'recommended serving turkey on Christmas Day and going stargazing at night-time because that's when it's dark'.
The journalist added: 'Meghan's tips are imparted in an easy-breezy manner as she waxes lyrical about family traditions and spending the holiday with loved ones, determinedly ignoring the elephants in the room.'
Harry, who featured briefly in the first season of With Love, Meghan but not the second, makes his cameo near the end, when he walks into the kitchen while Meghan and visiting restaurateur Tom Colicchio are cooking.
Ms Singh wrote: 'He is appalled at the sight of a beetroot, pickled vegetable, black olive, anchovy and fennel salad ("Oh, wow, that's like the anti-salad," he says) and who can blame him? Just give the poor man a sausage roll and let him have a happy Christmas.'
Another one-star review was published by the Independent today, whose deputy culture and lifestyle editor Hannah Ewens said the episode is 'not fun, enjoyable or even aspirational' and a 'predictably insipid festive special'.
The duchess with tennis star Naomi Osaka in a segment one reviewer described as 'awkward'
With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration came out today and has a running time of 56 minutes
She added: 'Now I like Christmas and I don't have one of these weird royalist vendettas against Meghan Markle – I think she seems like a lovely, sweet woman!
'So in theory I should enjoy With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration for what it means to provide: a massage for the brain. Sadly this most Markle-y of Netflix content tests the limits of my holiday cheer.'
Ms Ewens also wrote that Meghan 'makes Christmas food and decorative items for your benefit without actually showing you how to do things or listing the ingredients you need like a cooking show'.
She described the show as 'numbing content in the background of our holiday season', adding: 'White noise to dull the senses.'
The Guardian's TV critic Lucy Mangan was tempted to give it one star, but wrote: 'I feel both offended and harmed, but in the spirit of goodwill I will add a star to my rating in gratitude for the fact that at least we are safe now until next year.'
She also advised 'any viewers who are British, not in the acting profession and/or not married to the Duchess of Sussex to take as many anti-emetics as medically advisable, then assume the crash position'.
Ms Mangan wrote that Meghan and American restaurateur Will Guidara 'make crackers and compete to out-drivel each other'.
She added of Osaka: 'I've never seen anyone more desperate to get home.'
A further two-star review came in the Standard from writer India Block, who says the 'duchess formerly known as Markle firmly believes that holiday traditions can be boiled down to word salads of platitudes'.
She adds: 'Netflix has really hit its stride with this special episode of With Love, Meghan. They're really leaning the frantic energy of its star trying to crack puns without splashing hot oil or butter down her pristine cashmere sweaters.
The Duchess of Sussex with husband Prince Harry in the new festive Netflix programme
The show was filmed a few miles from her Montecito home and has a southern Californian feel
'Honestly, the production team must be trolling Meghan here with increasingly bizarre and elaborate set-ups for her to impart hosting "hacks". In fact, are they really hacks? They would make anyone actually hosting Christmas for a big group have a nervous breakdown before the canapés were served.'
The writer also said of Harry that she 'wouldn't be surprised if he also demands chicken nuggets and tater tots when Archie and Lilli get their toddler tea'.
Another review could be found in British Vogue, from its acting news and features editor Daisy Jones who claimed before watching it: 'I don't know anything about Meghan Markle or her Netflix show.'
She described the programme as 'making things, and talking, making things, and talking, until you're lulled into a semi-hypnotic state', adding: 'None of this is riveting nor stimulating, but it's not… unpleasant either.'
In conclusion, Ms Jones wrote: 'On the one hand, I can see why the show was critically panned. Sometimes, people are given a platform because of who they are, rather than what they can bring, and With Love, Meghan gives me the same feeling as when I am around very wealthy people who think that making a salad with friends makes them 'grounded' and 'relatable'.
'On the other, there's something soothing, enjoyable even, about the show's glossy inaneness.'
The only overtly positive review came from the Express royal editor Emily Ferguson who said the show gave 'some handy tips on wrapping awkward items such as cuddly toys and wine bottles'.
She adds: 'The special one-off episode, released on the same day the Royal Family welcomes the German president and first lady to Windsor Castle for a three-day state visit, balances festive fun with personal anecdotes that are sure to please her fan base.
'And in a solo clip while decorating iced cookies, Meghan delivers an important message: 'Take care of yourself and you will be able to take care of everybody else.'
The duchess with husband Prince Harry in With Love, Meghan - Holiday Celebration
Meghan puts a mini toy burger inside a Christmas cracker for her six-year-old son Archie
Meghan's new show aired on the same day the King and Queen are hosting the German state visit, and just hours after the Princess of Wales published a personal letter to guests attending her annual carol concert on Friday.
The duchess, who is estranged from her own father and has levelled a raft of accusations at the royals since quitting the monarchy, reveals she loves Christmas trees, advent calendars and Yuletide wreaths.
She said that trees allow you to 'really encapsulate your family story, really feel the passage of time and the different chapters of your life through the ornaments'.
She is seen dressing up in matching festive red pyjamas with her friends and making handmade personalised crackers, adding in a lavender roll-on scent for her four-year-old daughter Lili, a tiny toy burger and fries for six-year-old Archie, as well as a 'little love letter' for Harry.
Meghan remarked: 'Lili really likes trying to be a grown-up lady at the moment.'
She added: 'My husband's has a little love letter, a chocolate, a little hat', and she labels the cracker: 'My Love' rather than: 'Harry'.
Of Archie, she said: 'Now I'm on to Archie and I'm doing burgers and he loves the colour red.'
Meghan also suggested 'trying to really embrace and lean into making every day of that month special as you're wrapping up a year.
'But don't feel like you have to do it all. Just embrace the special touches that bring you joy.'
The duchess, who spent her first royal Christmas with the late Queen and the royal family at Sandringham in Norfolk in 2017 when she was engaged to Harry, tells of learning about the 'connected and sweet' tradition of crossing arms to pull Christmas crackers together.
Chef Tom Colicchio and Meghan cook together in the kitchen for her Netflix Christmas special
Osaka also features in the Christmas edition of With Love, Meghan
'Living in the UK, it's just such a part of... Christmas holidays, for sure,' she tells one of her guests Guidara, as they prepare to craft crackers.
'Typically, people cross arms and do it... yeah, so they sit around the table and they all pull at the same time. It actually does feel really connected and sweet.
'The way that I really started to know them - they would always have almost a fortune cookie-size joke or riddle, and something sweet.'
The Christmas cracker was invented by London-based confectioner and baker Tom Smith in the 1840s and was inspired by the French bonbon - a sugared almond wrapped in a twist of tissue paper.
The firm still holds the Royal Warrant for supplying Christmas crackers and wrapping paper to the King.
Each year, the royals gather at Sandringham for a traditional roast on Christmas Day, pulling crackers at the start of the meal.
The Sussexes joined the Windsors in 2017 and 2018 but they spent 2019 in Canada before stepping down as senior working royals early in 2020 and moving to the US. They have not spent a Christmas at Sandringham since.
The duchess, meanwhile, explains the idea of advent calendars as she puts tiny gifts into Archie and Lili's named fabric pocket calendars, saying: 'I wanted to do it for my own kids... All it's really about is having a surprise and delight every single day for 24 days until you get to Christmas.'
And she also added in handwritten notes - which she referred to as 'little findings' - for her children, saying: 'I'm writing: "I love you because you are so kind" and: "I love you because you're so brave".'
Archie and Lili did not appear in the episode.
Meghan welcomes the film crew for evening drinks in front of an open fire during the show
Meghan is seen organising a plate of Christmas-themed cookies after decorating it with Osaka
But Harry did – greeting his wife with a kiss on the lips and said: 'Hi guys. I smelled gumbo.'
Meghan told how her mother Doria Ragland makes her version of the Tennessee casserole of chicken, sausage, shrimp and spices on Christmas Eve and 'always saves a little portion on the side' for Harry without fish in it.
Harry was seen tucking in to the spicy dish, before cheekily telling Meghan her version is not as good as her mother's, and laughing as he waited for her shocked reaction.
'I can feel it puncturing through the top of my head right now. It is delicious. I'm not so sure it's as good as your mom's, but it's certainly close,' he said.
An open-mouthed Meghan reacted: 'What? Oh my gosh!' as she smiled, adding: 'My mom will love you for that. You know, what a good thing to say for your mother-in-law.'
Harry also came face-to-face with a dish made up of all the things he does not like.
Colicchio cooked his grandfather's beet salad - a sentimental family dish the chef makes each Christmas Eve - made of beets, black olives, fennel, anchovies and pickled vegetables.
As Meghan listed the ingredients, having previously revealed Harry 'hates all those flavours', the duke's eyes widened and he said: 'Oh wow. That's like the anti-salad.'
He later added: 'Me and the salad, we're having like this sort of eye-off. That is amazing how there's not many things in the world that I don't like. They're all in one bowl. I don't know what would happen to me.'
Meghan recommends folding 'outwardly' in a segment about wrapping Christmas gifts
Chef Colicchio with Harry and Meghan in the kitchen for her Netflix Christmas special
The duchess with Naomi Osaka appearing in the With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration
The Duchess of Sussex enjoys a drink during the Christmas special
At the end of the segment, Meghan kissed Harry on the lips again and put her arm around his neck as she told her husband: 'Thank you for coming.'
In the final scene, Harry appeared briefly, dressed in a zip top jumper, and Meghan is seen in a one-shoulder emerald green silk Galvan gown which she wore in a photoshoot for Variety magazine in 2022.
The duchess welcomed the film crew who arrive, with some wearing headphones, mics and Christmas jumpers, for evening drinks in front of a crackling open fire and a festively decorated room to celebrate wrapping the filming.
In other parts of the episode, Meghan offered her advice on tree decorating, saying she strings the lights so the tree could be 'lit from within and on the border, right on the outside' - and 'the same with ornaments, you want to find the placement for them where they're gonna find their light'.
And in a segment named Tips and Tricks for Festive Wrapping, Meghan recommended folding 'outwardly' rather than 'inwardly'.
She explained: 'One technique that's really fun is just the different way in which you're folding the paper. If you fold it outwardly instead of inwardly, it creates a different world there.'
The duchess sped through the method, adding: 'A little bow right there could be awfully darling.'
Meghan also revealed how she loves to add a pre-prepared wax seal and makes sure the colour matches the wrapping paper for a 'tone on tone' look.
'It's the tiniest detail that suddenly feels elevated,' she said.
Meghan added: 'Another anomaly for people at the holidays is: how on earth to wrap a wine bottle?'
She suggested the Japanese furoshiki method of using a scarf.
The Duchess of Sussex tucks notes and treats into a crafted advent calendar for her family
Harry gushes over one of his favourites, gumbo - made to Doria Ragland's recipe by Meghan
Having tasted the dish, Harry praised its spicy flavour before saying: 'I'm not sure it's as good as your mum's but it's certainly close.' Meghan feigns shock and outrage. 'What!' she says
And she made a rectangular cracker out of paper for wrapping tricky shapes such as cuddly toys.
The duchess also reeled out a number of food-related jokes, saying: 'Beets, beets, beets. Drop that beet,' and: 'This feels like fondue. You've never heard anyone say fon-don't'.
Guests included 'a new friend' - tennis player Osaka - for whom Meghan serves her 'favourite go-to' crudités platter, this time made of green vegetables, and a warmed cider.
The pair headed to the craft barn to decorate Santa cookie plates and mugs with pen and paint, where Meghan confessed she was 'painfully bad' at tennis as well as throwing and catching.
For a visit from her best friends, Lindsay Jill Roth and Kelly Zajfen, Meghan wears red pyjamas, edged in white and embroidered with her name on the pocket, while she cooked and served a festive brunch, which the trio ate as they stood in the kitchen.
'I love the tradition of a Christmas morning brunch. I do it every year with my family and I've already gotten a little head start - something sweet, something savoury,' the duchess said.
As they later make Christmas wreaths, Roth told Meghan: 'I like how loose yours is. That looks great.'
Meghan replied: 'Well it's just the beginning,' with Roth adding: 'Yeah, but it's fun.'
The episode, which began with Meghan skipping through a Christmas tree farm, saw the duchess make gougères with cacio e pepe - French cheese puffs made with cheese and black pepper - a festive cinnamon star, tiny quiches, and 'Reindeer chow' - a sweet treat renamed from one of Meghan's childhood recipes called 'puppy chow' which mixes melted chocolate, butter, vanilla, peanut butter, two cups of powdered sugar and an unnamed cereal.
Meghan also speaks about the importance of not trying to make everything perfect, admitting: 'I get so fussed about everything being perfect that you lose the magic that even happens in the mistakes.'
With Love, Meghan - Holiday Celebration is now streaming on Netflix
