Meghan tells of friction over jam as lifestyle series launches on Netflix

The Duchess of Sussex’s lifestyle series has premiered on Netflix, with Meghan telling how her homemade jam caused some friction with her celebrity friends.

With Love, Meghan launched on the streaming platform at 8am UK time – midnight on the west coast of America – after being delayed from January due to the Los Angeles wildfires.

The show is being seen as a make-or-break moment for the Sussexes, who signed a multimillion-pound deal with Netflix in 2020.

Meghan began a soft launch of American Riviera Orchard – now rebranded to As Ever – in April last year by sending famous friends jars of her homemade strawberry jam, numbered up to 50.

In episode two, called Welcome To The Party, Meghan tells how the numbered jars caused some friction: “It was not a ranking, it was just ‘let me share them’ and then people started to take it very personally.”

Actress and comedian Mindy Kaling, who chats to Meghan about the jam, tells her in a light-hearted exchange: “When I received that in the mail, a box of your preserves it was probably one of the most glamorous moments of my life.

“But then I looked at the label, and it said they were something like 50. And then I of course, as a very hierarchical person, was like ‘who are these other 50? Does having a lower number make me more special…?’”

She adds: “(I went) straight up on Instagram. I’m looking to see who the other people are, and I’m zooming in to see what numbers they have.”

Meghan reveals she saved the number one jar for her mother Doria Ragland.

“I did save one of 50 for my mom of course, felt like the right thing to do,” she said.

“And then I just thought, anyone who got one of those 50 jars that I was making on my stove in my actual kitchen at my house, I hope they all felt like ‘I want to share this with you’.”

The eight episodes, which are each 33 minutes long, see Meghan inviting famous friends to “a beautiful California estate, where she shares cooking, gardening and hosting tips”, Netflix says.

The show, which has the mood tags “relaxing”, “feel-good” and “lifestyle”, also features Meghan’s former Suits co-star, Abigail Spencer.

Episode one called Hello Honey! features Meghan’s “dear friend”, make-up artist Daniel Martin, as she prepares him a “thoughtful guest basket” and cooks cherry tomato and kale spaghetti with him.

It began with Meghan harvesting honey from bees as she says: “The biggest thing is keeping a low tone – talk in our bee voice.”

She also makes bath salts in a kitchen for Martin who is “coming over” plus a tray of snacks including truffle popcorn, carefully presented in see-through presentation bags.

The duchess, who faced criticism over authenticity for hosting With Love, Meghan from a Californian farmhouse rather than her Montecito mansion, acknowledges she is not filming in her own home.

“This isn’t my house. Daniel’s (Martin) gonna be staying at my house but I’m gonna prep everything here as I would at home and then bring it back to my house so I can have it there for him,” she says.

She describes how one of her favourite things to do when people come to stay is “prep the guest room” and think about their “good morning and night moment”.

“I think about the two places of a guest experience once they’ve gone into their room. What’s at the side of the bed for them?” she says

“That’s their good morning and good night moment, and what is in the bathroom for them so they can have a beautiful soak, a nice bath at the end of night.”

The Duke of Sussex, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet sent Meghan a bouquet of flowers ahead of the start of the series, with a handwritten card reading “Congratulations mumma! We love your show, and we love you!” which was signed Lili, Archie and Papa.

The duchess also shared videos of herself surprising fans at a special screening of the show, with some showing off temporary tattoos of Meghan’s As Ever logo.

Meghan renamed her lifestyle brand As Ever, switching from the name American Riviera Orchard just weeks before the launch after facing trademarking setbacks.

Netflix is a partner in her business, the duchess has said.

In an interview with US magazine People to promote her show, Meghan opened up about the “learning curve” she experienced with her series and brand, admitting there had been “tons of twists and turns”.

But the duchess, who has been accused of promoting the tradwife trend – short for traditional wife, said she did not see herself as a tradwife.

She described how she liked to do a “hybrid” and detailed how she preferred to present Chinese takeaway food as beautifully as possible.

“I like being able to do a hybrid but even when I get takeout, I will try to plate it beautifully,” she said.

Meghan has previously described As Ever as meaning “it’s always been, and if you’ve followed me since 2014 with The Tig, you know, I’ve always loved cooking and crafting and gardening”.

She said, in what was taken to refer to the restrictions she faced as a member of the royal family: “This is what I do, and I haven’t been able to share it with you in the same way for the past few years but now I can.”

As Ever trademark applications include a vast range of products from shower gels, incense, pet shampoo and gardening trowels to cutlery, stationery, diaries, paper party decorations, wrapping paper, ornamental non-precious stones, bird houses, honey stirrers, jams, marmalades and tea sets.

A family-run clothing business called As Ever based in New York spoke out about Meghan’s brand, saying they would continue with their original name and had been struck by the “outpouring of support and concern” over their firm.

Before marrying Harry, she closed down her lifestyle website called The Tig, which she had used as a platform to discuss social issues such as gender equality in addition to articles on travel, food and fashion.