With Love, Meghan Episode Five: Surprise and Delight

WITH LOVE, MEGHAN: SURPRISE AND DELIGHT

Original Airdate: March 4, 2025

Special Guests: Abigail Spencer and Kelly Zajfen

Mentions of Joy: 0

Passive-Aggressive Moment: 3

Gushing Praise for Markle: "I felt like you were Head of Morale on the show".

There was no joy to be found among friends in Surprise and Delight, our fifth With Love, Meghan episode. This is the first time that "joy" is not mentioned by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. However, the lack of joy is more than made up for with more edible flower sprinkles and even some shade thrown at the Duchess' BFFs by the Duchess herself. 

The Duchess Hostess with the Mostest is going to have a girls' brunch with her nearest and dearest gal pals. They are the advocate Kelly Zajfen and the actress Abigail Spencer. She wants everything to be perfect (and presumably joyful, even if "joy" never crossed her lips). As such, she needs to have a beautiful flower arrangement set up for them. She also needs to get the fish ready for their lunch, which they will join Mrs. Sussex in preparing. 

Oh, what joy! 

Mrs. Sussex goes to a nearby flower shop where she buys many bouquets from Juan. She arranges the flowers but avoids any vases. Once Kelly and Abigail arrive, it is now time to learn how to cook a fish and How to Style Crudités. Meghan and her ladies-in-waiting then can go to the backyard, where they reminisce about their friendship, friendship, just the perfect blendship. 

I have no way of knowing if Kelly Zajfen and Abigail Spencer really did find all the fish gutting to be the highlight of their day. Technically, they did not actually gut any fish. They just peeled off the bone and face. I do question whether this triple threat is as close as they say that they are. 

The reason for my question is that at the brunch, Meghan Markle, Queen of Domestic Doyennes, had one of the most cringeworthy moments in With Love, Meghan. As Kelly and Abigail were gushing about their bond, Meghan seemed to malfunction.

"You know, I have that on a t-shirt: The Best Ships are Friend Ships", the Duchess of Sussex informs the world. That revelation probably would have gone unnoticed. I figure that quip would have made people at most roll their eyes. 

Yet, for reasons that no one will ever uncover, Mrs. Sussex added to that moment. She did what I consider something thoroughly irrational and cringey. After telling us "The best ships are friend ships", she does some kind of seaside shanty jerky movement and calls out, "AHOY!".   

I do not think that The Office's Michael Scott, in his most clueless and directionless manner, would have done some kind of Popeye the Sailor Man impersonation to cap off this silly little quip. Again, this little "AHOY!" and jig bit reenforce what I am beginning to think about Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. 

Every time she attempts to come across as appealing, helpful, cheerful and friendly, she somehow ends up looking psychotic and dangerous. "If it makes you feel happy, then it's perfect," Mrs. Sussex opines. All I could picture is a John Wayne Gacy or Ed Gein talking about what made them feel happy.

I figure that edible flower sprinkles make Meghan Markle happy. They have returned in Surprise and Delight. However, there is a new twist to the Duchess' favorite condiment. She has frozen them in ice cubes. Now the Silver Girls can suck on edible flower sprinkles while drinking their mint juleps. 

They did not actually have mint juleps. I think it was tea. However, the lot of them might just as well have been drinking mint juleps and talked about how they were all getting the vapors. 

I am perfectly serious: what IS it with her and edible flower sprinkles? What is her obsession with something that I had never even imagined? Here she is, a former Her Royal Highness, going on about the joy of frozen edible flower sprinkles.

Surprise and Delight has praise and shade in equal measure. As Meghan goes to the flower market, she comments to presumably the viewer, "Kelly's a great cook. Abby has...other strengths". I guess that amongst friends, such joshing is fine. I figure that was meant as a humorous tease from one friend to another. Still, her delivery of this barb and the laughter it provokes from her made me raise an eyebrow. Later on, Abigail wonders which one of the bowls is hers. "We know (the bowl) has your name on it," Meghan calls out. 

Again, I think this comment was meant to be friendly joshing. It somehow ended up sounding more irritated than endearing.

To be fair, Abigail Spencer probably knows that between the two of them, Meghan is the Culinary Empress. "None of us, none of us are chefs", Meghan protests too much. "No, you really are," Abby responds. I believe that Abby later said when looking upon either the fish or the edible flower sprinkle ice cubes, "You did this? It's incredible". 

Kelly might be a great cook, but she did not get this amount of ebullient praise from Abby. Now to think of it, Meghan wasn't gushing with praise for either of her besties. Most curious.

I will say that Suprise and Delight is the least guarded that the Duchess has been. She mentioned her daughter, the now-Princess Lilibet. "Lili would love that," Mrs. Sussex says when looking at pink flowers. To be fair, this is the second time that Meghan, Duchess of Sussex has mentioned her daughter by name on With Love, Meghan. She name-drops the now-Prince Archie and his fishing exploits. There is also a vague reference to her spouse when she comments that "H is a great cook", at least when it comes to his scrambled eggs.

Make your own "scrambled eggs" quip here.

Given how she early on didn't even want to say "Harry", "Archie" or "Lilibet", the usage of first names by Meghan is almost loosening up for her.

As a side note, Meghan tells Abby and Kelly that she insisted that the family cook the fish that Prince Archie had caught. Something about that made me wince. I wouldn't find forced cooking a surprise and delight. 

Surprise and Delight, to be fair, does have an interesting section on flower arrangements. She seems competent in putting a flower display together. She learned this, from my understanding, at the baby shower her friends threw her for the now-Prince Archie. If so, I cannot imagine a less joyful activity than learning flower arranging at a baby shower. 

Some things, however, are as permanent as those edible flower sprinkles. We see both Abigail and Kelly walking around the rented kitchen barefoot. For myself, I simply cannot fathom why Meghan or With Love, Meghan requires those in the kitchen to walk around barefoot. I think of my late mother, who would have approved of them dressing well to be on television yet puzzled over the lack of footwear. 

I perhaps should not have been surprised and delighted that Meghan could not bother mentioning much of what Kelly or Abigail were up to. Billed as "advocate and friend", we get no mention of what Kelly Zajfin actually advocates for. A little online digging finds that she has a nonprofit for pregnant and parenting teens in foster care: Alliance for Moms. I find it interesting that Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is more concerned about her crudités than asking Kelly anything about what sounds like a very positive endeavor. 

Mrs. Sussex does enjoy hearing from Abigail though about how Meghan was her flower consultant for Abby's own flower company. Mrs. Sussex recalls fondly attending Kelly's wedding. Whatever Kelly Zajfin feels over her not attending Mrs. Sussex's wedding (the who, what, when, where, why and how) we do not learn. Perhaps Kelly could ask Abigail, who did go to Harry & Meghan's wedding.

"It's the little things that matter,", the Duchess of Sussex tells us in Surprise and Delight. Little things, like edible flower sprinkle ice cubes (tip: don't use tap water as they could make the ice cubes cloudy). Little things, like having yacht rock or French dinner music play while arranging flowers sans vase. Little things, like knowing that the Best Ships are Friend Ships.

AHOY!

3/10