After almost 10 years of Meghan Markle’s public image being defined by everyone else, her new Netflix show, With Love, Meghan, reclaims the narrative.

By 2016, Meghan had grown a tidy following after playing fan-favourite Suits character, Rachel, for the past four years.

But in November of that year, her relationship with Prince Harry went public and triggered a never-ending public onslaught that has irrevocably shaped the world’s perception of her.

Even people who weren’t interested in the British royal family could hardly go two paces without coming across the relentless national pile-on.

The coverage was filled with alarming double standards (Meghan’s avocado-eating funded murder while Kate’s gave her glowing skin) and racially charged overtones (calling her ‘almost straight out of Compton’ and comparing her child to a chimpanzee).

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To anyone only just learning about the newly-inducted royal, you would think she was a nefarious infiltrator, murkying the royal bloodline and stealing Harry away as part of a maniacal power trip that would surely destroy the monarchy.

Meghan Markle’s public image has been volatile. This Netflix show offers a change of pace (Picture: Netflix)

Over the past decade, any and all stories about the Duchess of Sussex have been about her life as a royal – whether coming from the UK press or straight from the horse’s mouth in Harry’s biography, Spare, or the couple’s Netflix series, Harry & Meghan.

So, With Love, Meghan offers a sorely needed change of pace.

The eight-episode lifestyle series – launched in tandem with her new brand, As Ever – follows Meghan as she shares ‘personal tips and tricks’ in the realm of food, home-making and party-planning.

The synopsis adds that it’s about ‘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.’

Joining her are several familiar faces, such as chef Roy Choi, Hollywood star Mindy Kaling, and Suits co-star Abigail Spencer, as she divulges her personal connection to her favourite recipes and sweet tidbits about life with her young family.

As you watch it, you soon forget the sensational headlines that have been haunting Meghan for a decade and actually get to glimpse into who she was before becoming a royal.

As a former lifestyle blogger, this career move makes total sense for the Duchess of Sussex(Picture: Jenna Peffley/ Netflix)

The show is part of Harry and Meghan’s $100 million 2020 Netflix deal, which has so far included the widely-watched Harry & Meghan as well as the poorly performing Heart of Invictus and Polo.

No doubt, this is the lucrative partnership’s strongest offering since the 2020 docuseries.

The Netflix series is a natural next career move for the star who ran the successful lifestyle blog, The Tig, up until 2017 before she was forced to shut it down (alongside her social media presence) as the royal spotlight heated up.

In many ways, watching her effortlessly coast through easy at-home recipes and happy-go-lucky conversations with her guests, it feels like this is what she should have been doing all along.

And Harry, the royals, the struggles she has faced the 10 years? They hardly make a passing feature.

Meghan may not be re-inventing the wheel with her show, but she is re-inventing the image she wants to put out there. Goodbye exiled royal, hello lifestyle guru.

In the first few episodes alone, we hear her reminisce about her excitement at landing a regular gig on Suits, her favourite childhood memories like her grandmother’s apple butter and her life as a mother to Archie and Lilibet.

It’s heartening to see her wrest her story out of the hands of online trolls and show the world that, at her core, she is just someone who loves sharing food and connecting with nature.

Refreshingly, her life as a royal is not the focus of the show (Picture: Netflix/ Elliot Wagland)

There’s a cosy feeling to the whole show, as though you are a guest in her home (although the show isn’t filmed there), and she emanates a warmth seldom portrayed by mainstream media.

For those who argue that this version of Meghan is just as manufactured as anything else about her over the past decade, I would agree. But at least this time, we know exactly what we’re signing up for.

With Love, Meghan fits perfectly into the genre of TV that you can whack onto the background while you get your Sunday chores done – and it is not pretending to be anything else.

It is hardly going to change the world and, for the most part, borrows from the tried and tested aesthetic of celebrity lifestyle and food shows. Like something you would get if you crossed the elevated feel of Martha Stewart with Jamie Oliver’s easy 15-minute recipes.

There’s a nice relatability to the skill level required through the show (Picture: Netflix)

If anything, Meghan’s approach to inviting (for the most part) unskilled guests over and getting them stuck in makes her recipes feel more achievable and relatable – something not often seen in this genre.

And each segment is created with a purpose in mind, like in the second episode when she invites fellow toddler mum Mindy over so they can plan a tea party fit for adults and kids alike.

Of course, it won’t be for everyone, and perhaps treads too much over previously trodden ground to fully set itself apart from the rest of the lifestyle crowd.

But for those looking to learn about Meghan away from the endless toxic discourse, this is the perfect re-introduction.