The sophomore season of Meghan Markle’s highly anticipated Netflix series With Love, Meghan is here, just five months after the show’s premiere. The program’s second eight-episode drop follows the same format as the first, giving viewers insights on the Duchess’s hosting style, her homemaking preferences, and showcasing a rolodex of starry guests that she counts as personal friends.
With Love, Meghan takes place at an $8 million farmhouse that sits a few miles away from the $14.65 million Montecito, California, abode that Markle shares with Prince Harry and their two children, Archie and Lilibet. Across all 16 of the show’s episodes, Markle opens up not just about cooking and homemaking, but all things Markle-verse: her “high-low” fashion approach; her time on Suits; her royal title; and her lifestyle business, As Ever, which was quietly announced in March 2024 as American Riviera Orchard (RIP) and sells tableware, home goods, beauty items. While we don’t get a peek at her actual house, With Love, Meghan shares plenty of the LA native’s favorite tips and tricks about party planning, gardening, cooking, and beekeeping. Read on for our running list of the most intriguing tidbits we learned from the show’s two seasons.
When traveling, she always carries pieces of her home with her
Markle admits she was formerly a last-minute packer when it came to traveling. (Gasp!) The Duchess has since learned the error of her ways; these days, she’s become meticulous about the process ahead of time. “Preparedness goes a long way,” she says in the second season’s seventh episode. Wise from years spent jetting off on short notice, Markle is now adamant about bringing parts of her home on the road with her to cope with being away from her happy place. The Suits actor reveals that she stuffs dryer sheets into every layer of her folded wardrobe and travels with her own pillow cases (which double as her travel laundry bag).
She’s not exactly artsy…but she loves a craft barn
Markle reveals in the second season’s third episode (with guest Tan France of Queer Eye) that she doesn’t consider herself “artistic,” recalling a dislike of art class in her school years. But her experience working part-time at a stationery store—where she taught calligraphy and gift-wrapping—helped develop her eye for crafts over the years. Markle and her A-list friends spend ample time hanging out in the craft barn of the California farmhouse set in With Love, Meghan. The spacious mini studio is stocked to the brim with art supplies, essential oils, and a slew of other tools to create special mementos for her guests and their children.
She’s into the art of aesthetic plating
Markle is vocal about “beautifying” her dishes. In the second season’s third episode, she uses a wood cutting board to craft a fruit platter. Abundant arrangements of produce come together to make it “feel like a bounty”—and if you don’t have tons of items, she suggests simply using a smaller plate. “It will look plentiful, it’s just about the vessel…. Little things make a big difference.” While cooking a halibut with chef Clare Smyth in the second season’s sixth episode, Markle stresses the importance of starting your plate with a base—the main dish—before “accessorizing” with garnishes. “There’s a purpose [in everything],” she says of her process.
Guests at Markle’s receive the royal treatment
The humble guest room—often an afterthought. Not for Markle! Minutes into season one’s first episode, the consummate hostess reveals that the guest room is one of the most important features in her home.
“I think about the two places of a guest’s experience once they’ve gone into their room: What’s at the side of the bed for them? That’s their good morning and good night moment. And what’s in the bathroom for them, so they can have a beautiful soak [and] a nice bath at the end of the night,” she says. Visitors at the Markle residence are spoiled with homemade bath salts, bedside bouquets fresh from the garden, and custom baskets. “The joy of hostessing is surprising people with moments to let them know I was thinking of their whole experience, from morning to evening,” she says.
She’s a garden-to-table gal
Aside from the stunning farmhouse kitchen, Markle spends much of the series in a sprawling garden. Though the show itself is not filmed inside her own primary residence, People reports that the Duchess’s actual garden is indeed featured here. Growing and harvesting fresh produce from her backyard is a “daily job,” she says. While chatting with legendary chef Alice Waters in the eighth episode of season one, the pair discuss how the experience of growing something—whether in a garden or on a window sill—can alter how you view food. When Markle isn’t harvesting fruits and vegetables or picking fresh florals, she uses the outdoor space for gatherings and parties.
A Le Creuset collection is her kitchen’s crown jewel
Most of the show focuses on Markle’s cooking. She explains that her love of the culinary arts stems from growing up on fast food and TV tray dinners. For every meal, the Duchess of Sussex uses high-quality, chip-resistant cast-iron cookware—and it may come as no surprise that she is a huge fan of Le Creuset. Coordinating with the minimal kitchen, the stovetop is decked out in white Dutch ovens used for pasta, frittatas, and even Korean fried chicken. “Are you kidding me? In one of these heavy-ass ‘le creu-set,’ ‘le creu-say’? I could do Romanian deadlifts with this Le Creuset,” Mindy Kaling tells Markle in the second episode.
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Glass jars and wicker baskets go a long way in her home
Markle is rarely seen without a glass jar or wicker basket in hand across With Love, Meghan’s 16 episodes. She keeps glassware on deck at all times to store ingredients for meals and occasionally gifts them to friends. As for wicker baskets, Markle not only uses them to harvest produce from her garden, but she often stores baked goods and as display pieces on her countertops.
She believes in the meditative art of flower arranging
Fresh florals are sprinkled throughout the show. According to Markle, there’s a meditative art to making bouquets. “[The] first thing I do is see what colors I gravitate towards and then everything goes from there,” she says in the fifth episode of season one. “I kind of think of it like an outfit, and once you pick the base look, you have to accessorize in a way that makes sense and matches. If it makes you feel happy, then it’s perfect.”
