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Meghan Markle's Netflix show: 'bang on the money' or hopelessly 'cheugy'?
The Duchess of Sussex relaunched her Instagram just in time to promote her new lifestyle series
"Welcome to Meghan Markle's influencer era," said The Independent. The Duchess of Sussex has launched a new Instagram account with a "straightforward but somehow slightly grandiose mononymic username, @meghan", that will take us "behind the scenes" of her life with Prince Harry in California.
Markle's debut post is a "brief, ever-so-casual clip" that shows her running barefoot towards the ocean dressed in a flowing white shirt and jeans, leaning down to write '2025' in the sand with her finger in "a moment of perfectly rehearsed spontaneity".
The unveiling came as the first trailer dropped for her gleaming new Netflix series, "With Love, Meghan", that will celebrate the "joys of cooking, gardening, entertaining and friendship", said Claudia Cockerell in London's The Standard.
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It seems Markle is on track to "follow the Goop playbook", said Cockerell. The foundations are clearly being laid for Markle to establish herself as an influencer, but things have changed considerably since she launched her lifestyle blog, "The Tig", in 2014.
To be successful on Instagram she'll need to give people "confessional pieces to camera" and "a look-in at the life that she and Harry lead". It simply isn't enough to share "wordless, faceless videos on beaches".
I have "always had a soft spot for Meghan", but the whole thing feels, "for lack of a kinder word, cringe", said Rebecca Reid on the i news site. "But then maybe that's the key?" Perhaps Markle should "bypass cool and head straight for cheugy". As long as she avoids hiring "anyone who knows anything about social media", she "might enjoy a renaissance as Queen of the Huns".
'Meghan, the trad wife'
"We've had Meghan, the actress, Meghan, the people's princess, and Meghan the wound-licking, Oprah-confiding ex-royal", said The Times. Now it seems the Duchess of Sussex has a "new guise": "Meghan, the trad wife".
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If the "honey-hued trailer" for Markle's new Netflix show seems "a little Stepfordy for a self-identified and vocal feminist, then you wouldn't be wrong". But it's not exactly surprising given the "fickle nature" of the internet trend cycle: "ostentatious displays of domesticity are de rigueur". With the popularity of housewife influencers soaring, and Instagrammable dinner party tables becoming a "status symbol", it seems "With Love, Meghan" is "bang on the money".
Of course, opening up her life online will inevitably draw an "extra dose of criticism", said The Independent. For every person who follows her account in "good faith", another will be "keeping tabs" on her only to "build ammunition to attack her with".
Still, "a 'hate follow' is still a follow" and Markle will be able to "capitalise on that obsession". "Social media offers the potential to make money from her detractors – it might just give Meghan the last laugh after all."
Irenie Forshaw is the features editor at The Week, covering arts, culture and travel. She began her career in journalism at Leeds University, where she wrote for the student newspaper, The Gryphon, before working at The Guardian and The New Statesman Group. Irenie then became a senior writer at Elite Traveler, where she oversaw The Experts column.
