If you thought that With Love, Meghan, had reached its apex with the star-studded second season, which saw Meghan Markle invite a number of A-list guests and celebrated chefs – including her husband, Prince Harry, into her world (but notably, not her house, since it was filmed in the house of a generous neighbour), then you were wrong. Netflix has just released the With Love, MeghanChristmas special in which the Duchess demonstrates not just her culinary skills but her extremely superior hosting style and crafty creations. ‘There's nothing more stressful than watching a stressed-out hostess,’ says Meghan in the With Love, Meghan Christmas special, adding that ‘you can get so fussed about everything being perfect that you lose the magic that happens with mistakes’.
With Christmas just around the corner, we were quick to get stuck in to the new Christmas special, in the hopes that we might pick up tips for stress-free hosting. Here are the highlights:
The special opens with a soundtrack of jazzy Christmas music set to footage of Meghan shopping for a Christmas tree. She lands on a particularly full, layered fir that the proceeds to decorate with gold and brass. Launching straight into tree decorating tips, Meghan recommends stringing the lights inside so it's lit from within. ‘Find the place for the ornaments where they are lit from within,’ she adds. When it comes to ornaments, Meghan's are largely sentimental and ‘encapsulate [her] family's story’.
For her next trick, Meghan fills a DIY-advent calendar. ‘I want to lean into making every day of the month special as you're wrapping up the year‘. She adds hand written notes and treats for her children into the slots of the pale, canvas advent calendar.
Soon, Meghan is joined by her first guest, the restauranteur and author Will Guidara. The familiar kitchen in her neighbours $6 mansion in Montecito is back, but this time its windows are decorated with garlands of festive greenery – an effect that Meghan refers to as ‘over the top jolly’. She is quick to launch into some cooking, and on the menu is one of our favourite party foods: cheesy gougerès. Next up, the sweet treat: cereal bars that Meghan has charmingly named ‘Reindeer chow’ (it is heavy on the peanut butter and sugar)’.
Other edible festive treats that Meghan prepares on the show include a ‘festive cinnamon star‘ (imagine sweet puff pastry twisted into a snowflake shape) and a smorgasbord of quiches (including the ever-popular quiche Lorraine). To eat this array of Christmas party food, Meghan is joined by pyjama-clad friend and author Lindsay Jill Roth. If crudité is your thing, Meghan also shares her tips for an artistically arranged platter.
Once the setting for Meghan's famous tutorial on making lavender towels for her guests, for the Christmas special the house has become Santa's workshop, inside which she is busy crafting: first up is Christmas cracker making. ‘You can buy these pre-made or you can cut your own templates out of any kind of wrapping paper,’ delights Meghan, who also reminds us to ‘think about the person enjoying it and what they would like’. Meghan and Will masterfully slice into their wrapping paper before sticking down a roll of cardboard on the underside. Sweets (‘candies’), chocolates and, of course, dried flowers quickly follow. Wreath making and festive wrapping are also taught. Not one to do things by half, Meghan adorns each gift with a wax seal, declaring that ‘it's the tiniest detail that suddenly feels elevated’.
