In her new Netflix series, Meghan Markle invites friends and famous guests to a California estate where she shares cooking, gardening and hosting tips.
But if it all feels very familiar, eagle-eyed viewers have already spotted a series of similarities to old recipes and other shows just hours after the trailer came out.
Some have compared her ‘Ladybug Caprese Bruschetta’ to similar recipes; others spotted a similarity to a YouTube cooking show hosted by the Marchioness of Bath; and her beekeeping was noted for also being one of Kate’s favourite hobbies.
In the trailer for ‘With Love, Meghan’, the Duchess hosts celebrity chefs and famous friends including Mindy Kaling and Abigail Spencer as she prepares a range of perfectly presented dishes to a soundtrack of The Lovin’ Spoonful’s Do You Believe in Magic.
In one clip from the kitchen of the rented $5m reality TV Montecito mansion where the show is set, Meghan, who tells viewers she’ll share ‘some little tips and tricks’, makes a ‘Ladybug’-themed appetiser.
However, viewers noted that recipes for the dish have been around since 2015 on dozens of food blogs and Pinterest pages.
They also feature in the US lifestyle magazine First For Women in 2018 and the popular TikTok account Home Cooks World in 2023.
The ingredients in the latter’s recipe are a baguette, pesto, mozzarella, basil, cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, sesame seeds and olive oil. First for Women meanwhile said the dish was ‘packed with mood-boosting calcium and energising antioxidants’.
Meghan with actress Mindy Kaling in the trailer for ‘With Love, Meghan’, released yesterday
Some viewers have compared scenes from Meghan’s trailer to those in the YouTube cooking show ‘Emma’s Kitchen’ hosted by Emma Thynn, Marchioness of Bath (above)
Another part of the trailer showed Meghan trying beekeeping – but some royal fans pointed out that this is also one of her sister-in-law Kate’s longtime hobbies.
The Princess of Wales was photographed happily tending to a hive at Anmer Hall in Norfolk in an image released in May 2023 to mark World Bee Day.
Kate is known to make her own honey – while Queen Camilla is also a keen apiarist, and keeps bees at Raymill, her six-bedroom retreat in Lacock, Wiltshire.
Camilla is also president of Bees For Development, a charity protecting bee habitats in more than 50 countries; while Buckingham Palace is home to four beehives on an island in a lake in the garden, and there are two hives in Clarence House’s garden.
One viewer tweeted: ‘If anyone wanted to read between the lines, this is yet another opportunity for Netflix, Reed Hastings and Markle to continue trolling the British monarchy, since all Meghan is trying to do is to imitate an English lifestyle, dressing and keeping bees like Catherine.’
Another wrote that it was ‘something the King, Prince William and Princess Catherine been doing for years – no, a beekeeper she’s not. Copied that off the royals.’
And a third said: ‘And you know who keeps bees? Princess Catherine at her home in Amner Hall. It’s one of her passions. Meghan has never had an original idea ever.’
Other viewers have compared scenes from the trailer to those in the YouTube cooking show ‘Emma’s Kitchen’ hosted by marchioness and chef Emma Weymouth.
The Celebrity MasterChef contestant – formally known as Emma Thynn, Marchioness of Bath – posts videos of her creations after launching the brand in 2015 using the backdrop of the original kitchens within Longleat House.
One observer tweeted similar still images from each show, writing: ‘Emma Weymouth, Marchioness of Bath, has had a cooking programme at Longleat estate for nine years!’
Another said: ‘Why is Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex trying to channel Emma Thynn, Marchioness of Bath? TBH, Emma seems more natural while Meghan often seems like she’s acting from a script. I think Meghan should focus strictly on charity work.’
A third added: ‘This woman has no original idea! This is a copy of Emma’s Kitchen!.’ And a fourth tweeted: ‘Very much like Emma’s Kitchen on YouTube.’
As for Meghan’s new trailer, she appears smiling and relaxed in the clip which includes a shot of her being hugged by the Duke of Sussex.
Another part of the trailer for ‘With Love, Meghan’ showed the Duchess trying beekeeping
The Princess of Wales was pictured tending to a hive at Anmer Hall in Norfolk in May 2023
The series, which launches on January 15, was announced yesterday – a day after she returned to Instagram for the first time since 2020.
Meghan wrote: ‘I have been so excited to share this with you! I hope you love the show as much as I loved making it.
‘Wishing you all a fantastic new year! Thanks to our amazing crew and the team @netflix. Beyond grateful for the support – and fun!’
A promotional synopsis of the show says: ‘This inspiring series, produced by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, reimagines the genre of lifestyle programming, blending practical how-tos and candid conversation with friends, new and old.
‘Meghan shares personal tips and tricks, embracing playfulness over perfection and highlights how easy it can be to create beauty, even in the unexpected.
‘She and her guests roll up their sleeves in the kitchen, the garden, and beyond, and invite you to do the same.’
Viewers say some of Meghan’s ideas are unoriginal such as the ‘Ladybug Caprese Bruschetta’
Dozens of food blogs have posted the recipe, including Diary of a Mad Hausfrau
The TikTok and YouTube channel Home Cooks World posted a similar recipe video in 2023
The US lifestyle magazine First For Women also published a similar recipe in 2018
Actresses Mindy Kaling and former Suits star Abigail Spencer, plus chefs Roy Choi and Alice Waters are among the guests who appear on the 33-minute shows.
Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Productions helped to make the series and she also gets a credit as one of its executive producers.
The couple have a £80million five-year deal with Netflix which they signed in 2020 – and the Sussexes are executive producers of Polo which aired last month.
The documentary was the couple’s first since Heart Of Invictus, which aired some 16 months earlier and followed a group of service members on their road to the Invictus Games, the Paralympic-style sporting competition set up by Harry in 2014 for injured and sick military personnel and veterans.
It followed Live To Lead, about leaders who have dedicated themselves to social justice, in 2022, and before that, the couple’s controversial six-part Harry & Meghan documentary.
