Meghanâs love of her Sussex name among Netflix revelations
The duchessâ?? eight part With Love, Meghan series aired on Tuesday.
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The Duchess of Sussex loves her surname, purposely under-salts the Duke of Sussexâs food, and was the unofficial âhead of moraleâ on the set of Suits.
Meghan gives a rare insight into her life in Montecito, offering up a number of revelations.
But there is no direct mention of the royal family in the eight-episode output, with Meghan steering clear of bringing up any controversies.
The royal family escaped any direct mention in Meghanâs Netflix series (Paul Grover/Daily Telegraph/PA)
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Here is what we learned:
â Meghan loves her Sussex name
When the actress Mindy Kaling uses Meghanâs maiden name, the duchess speaks with pride about being a Sussex: âYou keep saying, Meghan Markle, you know, Iâm Sussex now.
âYou have kids, and you go, ânow I share my name with my childrenâ ⦠I didnât know how meaningful it would be to me, but it just means so much to go âthis is our family name, our little family nameâ.â
Newlywed Harry and Meghan in 2018 (Dominic Lipinski/PA)
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The Sussex title was given to Harry on the morning of his wedding by his grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Harry and Meghan stopped using their HRH styles when they stepped away from the monarchy.
There were calls at the time for them to lose their Sussex titles, but this can only be actioned through legislation.
â Harry is a good cook
Meghan says: âH is a great cook. He makes a really great breakfast.â
Her former Suits co-star Abigail Spencer remarks: âIs he really?â with friend Kelly McKee Zajfen praising his âscrambled eggsâ.
â Harry salts his food without tasting it
But Meghan under-salts his food in return.
âI 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,â she says.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex at the Invictus Games (Aaron Chown/PA)
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The Sussexes also enjoy a daily veg platter, Meghan reveals.
âWe have a veggie platter, crudites, every day in our house,â she says.
â Archie likes fishing
Meghan reveals how Prince Archie caught two trout while fishing on holiday.
âI have two kids, and then we had two trout. Itâs like: âWeâre going to salt bake a fishâ, because it would be fun for them.â
â Lili likes jam-making
Princess Lilibet helped make a batch of strawberry jam, which Meghan serves in a dessert to Spencer and Zajfen.
Meghan says: âThis is a strawberry preserve. Lili and I actually made this batch together. She picked all those berries, with then sheâs like: âNo, no Mama Iâll do itâ and she wants to try.
âSheâs like: âIâll stir it. Iâll mash itâ, itâs like, great, and then you keep the hot stuff away and go: âIâll pour it inâ, but sheâs proud. That part feels good.â
â Meghanâs chickens were rescues
Her chickens came from factory farms and it took six months to rehabilitate them.
âMost of these girls were rescues,â she says.
But she also has two silkies which were gifts and have been named Phil and Jill by Archie and Lilibet.
âIt changes on the day. This is either Phil or Jill. Depends on how the kids are feeling,â she says.
â Guy the dog had âa lot of stories to tellâ
Meghanâs elderly rescue beagle Guy, who has since died, is described by Meghan as âmy shadowâ.
As she talks about the years he has spent with her moving to the UK and back to the US, she says: âSo yeah, Guy has a lot of stories to tell.â
â Meghan was raised on junk food
âI was a latch-key kid so I grew up with a lot of fast food and also a lot of TV tray dinners,â she says.
Meghan with her mother Doria Ragland (Steve Parsons/PA)
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âIt feels like such a different time but that was so normal with the microwavable kids mealsâ¦â
â The numbering of her jams caused problems
Meghan reveals how her numbered homemade jam caused some friction with her celebrity friends when she soft-launched her lifestyle brand.
âIt was not a ranking, it was just âlet me share themâ and then people started to take it very personally,â she says.
But she then adds her mother was given jar number one because that felt like the right thing to do.
â Meghan likes Seventies rock
The duchess reveals she listens to 70s soft rock, yacht rock, and lot of soul, and also French dinner party music.
â Liliâs new doll has its own picnic basket of food
Meghan tells how Lili was given a doll called âStella al Frescoâ which comes with a little pretend baguette and some cheese.
The fabric doll by Manhattan Toy costs around £38, wears dungarees and has a magnetic pacifier, fabric picnic basket, baguette, and a wheel of artisan cheese.
â Meghan was âhead of moraleâ on Suits
âI felt like you were head of morale on the show,â Spencer says, as they talk about their time on Suits.
Meghan responds: âI liked to plan fun for everyone⦠or to have people at the house.â
â Her first job was in an ice cream shop
The duchess tells how her grandmother worked in an ice cream shop and so did she for her first job, at the age of 13, at Humphrey Yogurt.
â She did her wedding cake tasting with her make up artist friend
Meghan chats to close friend Daniel Martin about her lemon and elderflower wedding cake, saying: âWe did the tasting together.â
At the time, baker Claire Ptak said Harry and Meghan loved the lemon and elderflower cake after trying a number of different samples.
Harry and Meghanâs wedding cake (Steve Parsons/PA)
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â Meghan plays mahjong
The duchess has taken to playing mahjong with three Montecito friends and getting together for game nights.
â And here are some of Meghanâs soundbites:
â âGood night sweetheartâ as Meghan puts a cake in the oven
â âI feel like youâre watching me falling in love,â she says as she eats a raw turnip.
â âI love feeding people. I think itâs probably my love language,â on the joy of cooking for guests.
The first batch of the Duchess of Sussexâs As Ever products were unveiled on the same day as her Netflix series (Adam Davy/PA)
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â âWell, itâs just adding that extra bit of decor to the things that we eat because we eat with our eyes first,â as she cuts up fruit to dehydrate the slices for drinks.
â âSheâs so beautiful on the inside and you just donât know how good she is until you go deep and you get to know her better,â about her cake.
â âBaking is not my favourite thing but I will do it for one of my favourite people,â to make up artist Daniel Martin.
â âSo I hope she and I can become friends. I canât wait. Iâm like: âDo you want to come over to my house for Thanksgiving?ââ as she prepares to meet chef Alice Waters for the first time.
â âHas anyone in the world ever been so tickled by the sight of lettuces?â watching Waters put lettuce leaves in a bowl.
â âI have a lazy Susan at home. Itâs great and by the way there is nothing lazy about that Susan â she works hard,â about the kitchen gadget.
â âI find when Iâm cooking bacon my kitchen very immediately becomes full of husband and three dogs. Itâs not my perfume that brings them all in. âMy bacon brings all the boys to the yardââ on cooking bacon.
â âWeâre not in the pursuit of perfection. Weâre in the pursuit of joy.â