With Love, Meghan Episode Eight: Feels Like Home

WITH LOVE, MEGHAN: FEELS LIKE HOME

Original Airdate: March 4, 2025

Special Guests: Alice Waters and Special Appearance by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex

Mentions of "Joy": 3

Mentions of Flower Sprinkles: Yes

Passive-Aggressive Moments: 0

Gushing Praise for Markle: "Well done. You did a great job. TO YOU!"

"Why does a crêpe feel more special than a pancake?" 

Such esoteric questions are pondered by Her Royal Highness Meghan, Duchess of Sussex in Feels Like Home, the eight With Love, Meghan episode. Is Feels Like Home the season finale of With Love, Meghan's first of two seasons? Is it the midpoint of With Love, Meghan's first and so-far only season? Like the specialness of crêpes, your answer to this unanswerable question may depend one where you stand on both With Love, Meghan and on the Duchess herself. Feels Like Home is a bit haphazard in what it covers, edible flower sprinkles and all. 

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex is preparing a garden brunch party to celebrate her new venture and chapter in her life. It is the launch of her brand, formerly known as American Riviera Orchard and currently known by As Ever. To prepare the elaborate garden party, Meghan turns to Alice Waters. She is a pioneer in the farm-to-table movement and a celebrated chef. Meghan is all set to receive Ms. Waters, showing the audience the gifts that she will present her. Meghan, a former gift-wrapping instructor, creates an elaborate wrap for the book and necklace that she will present Waters.

Now there, Alice looks pleased if a bit puzzled by Meghan's enthusiasm. We learn My Guide to Farm Fresh Eggs. The eggs are acquired from little Prince Archie's henhouse, dubbed Archie's Chick Inn. The yolks are amazing.

No, none of those statements were meant as puns. This is what actually happened.

Once the various dishes were prepared, Meghan gives the viewer a crash course on menu making and penmanship. This is when she wonders about why crêpes feel more special than pancakes. With the menu set out to guide her many guests, they finally arrive. Among her guests are the Duchess' mother Doria Ragland, who asks if all these vegetables are from the garden. At Minute 31 of this 34-minute episode, we finally get a glimpse of Meghan's hereto unseen and unnamed husband. Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, is proud of the wifey, toasting her and mingling with the guests. All in all, a delightful summer day.

I could not help but conclude the With Love, Meghan season or midseason finale with a singular takeaway. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex works hard, very hard, to come across as friendly, casual and relatable. The end result, judging by both Feels Like Home and With Love, Meghan is that she is a real-life Tracy Flick. There is a curious obsession bordering on the psychotic when it comes to making everything presentable. Right from the get-go, Meghan seems to be scurrying around the rented garden, ensuring that everything is just so. I cannot recall, but I think she said in the opening that if someone showed up early, she would have them help her set up. 

Again, I cannot recall if she actually said that. However, I would not put it past her to do so. 

Feels Like Home feels anything but that. Meghan has presented gifts to some of the various guests that have crossed her rented home/studio threshold. If memory serves right, she did this for Daniel Martin. She did this for Delfina Figueras. She is doing this for Alice Waters. This gift-giving, however, is inconsistent. I do not think that Mindy Kaling got a welcoming or parting gift, not even those preserves that Kaling considers the most glamourous moment of her life. I do wonder what her criteria was for who would and would not receive welcoming or parting gifts. 

From my understanding, this would be the first time that Alice Waters would visit and/or work for the Duchess. As such, why Waters merited a book and a necklace is puzzling. I do not remember what the book was. I do not think that Meghan told the viewers what title Alice Waters would have by her bedside. This whole situation harkens back again to Election's queen bee. Meghan is outwardly chipper and eager to have this cooking legend visit her. She is very eager to please Waters. 

The end result, like with most everything involving Mrs. Sussex, is at times bordering if not transcending the bizarre. Meghan comes across as a student desperate to please the teacher into getting an A+ from her. Perhaps even an A++++ like what she got from Vicky Tsai. 

That is another unanswerable question. If one is still pondering about why crêpes are more meaningful than pancakes, move onto this. Why does Meghan have to give Waters not one but two gifts? Add to that, why does it need to be so elegantly wrapped? 

I genuinely do not remember much about the Sussex/Waters mashup save for one slightly peculiar part. As Meghan is cracking the eggs, Waters appears to marvel at the yolk. "I have never seen one that color. I guess it must be very specific to this place", Waters observes. The yolk from Archie's Chick Inn is particular shade of yellow. Part of me half-expected Sussex and Waters to break out into a Coldplay duet. Part of me also wondered two other things. 

The first is whether Waters was playing along for dear life. She looked a mix of perplexed and amused at Meghan's various food preps. The second is whether Waters was a little tipsy by the end. 

In some cases, the chef is there to gush at Meghan's culinary acumen. In others, the chef actually tells Her Royal Highness that she is doing something wrong. Alice Waters in Feels Like Home is somewhere in the middle. She does not seem very impressed with how Meghan is preparing things. I think she might have been puzzled at the gifts. However, she is pleased at the bountiful vegetables. Alice Waters even hugs a large bush, which delights the Duchess.

I can't help writing out things that, like Feels Like Home, are correct but sound so odd.

The cooking is not a major part of Feels Like Home. A good amount of the episode centers around writing out menus. If I remember things correctly, Meghan writes out the various foods that will be served for her guests to know what they are seeing. This is where the Tracy Flick comparison comes closest. Granted, I would not know the difference between elderberry and elderflower. However, the very intense attention to detail on writing out everything seems almost unhealthy. She writes out all her plans almost down to the smallest detail. That seems to take the fun out of a brunch.

Feels Like Home gives us past guests for its final brunch. I think I spotted Kelly Zafjen, last spotted in Surprise and Delight. I do not recall Meghan speaking to her on-camera. The Duchess' mother, Doria Ragland, was a bit of an extra in this posh nosh. She was on screen briefly and the interaction between mother and daughter was tiny. 

We did have some words from the fifth in line to the British throne. He was congratulatory of his wife. He closed out the episode by toasting her. I trust that the toast was sincere. I also have a nagging sense that he does this every night.

"I love my guests. I need to make sure everyone's fine. We're not in the pursuit of perfection. We're in the pursuit of joy". Thus Spoke Sussex. We again have a case where something that is meant to sound welcoming ends up coming across as threatening. With Love, Meghan has, I would argue, been about pursuing perfection. How else to explain such a fixation on writing out menus and flower sprinkles (or here, edible flower blossoms)? 

Why does a crêpe feel more special than a pancake? The woman once known as Rachel Meghan Markle answers thus. "I don't know, but it does".

No word on whether or not said crêpes had edible flower sprinkles full of joy on them.

2/10