The Meghan Markle Netflix series, With Love, Meghan, is in a bind with (predictable) subpar viewership numbers and the likelihood of cancelation. Yet Newsweek claims it’s doing fine, thanks to all the “hate watchers.”
The Dismal Numbers and Rumor Mills
Meghan Markle’s Netflix series titled With Love, Meghan opened with disastrous ratings from both audiences and critics. The viewership numbers amounted to only 526,000 households for the pilot episode within the first five to six days, according to Samba TV. This is roughly half the viewership for Harry and Meghan, which “drew in 2.1 million households in approximately the same number of days.” While both numbers are low for Netflix, it’s interesting to note that more people tuned in for the couple than for Meghan Markle alone.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle – YouTube, SkyNews Australia
That is not unusual for the world’s most disliked royal pains. At the end of January of 2025, an anonymous insider who had worked with Markle revealed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are aware that they’re more marketable together. The source explained that “their value is in being a couple. Even if they wanted to split, they couldn’t.” This came out after a rumor made the rounds that they were getting a divorce, based on Markle’s team proposing a potential post-divorce tell-all book.
Netflix Wants Out of the Deal
Now the show is facing cancelation. According to The Daily Beast, an insider claimed the “Netflix bosses are all worried now because they have invested a lot in the [royal couple]. They don’t know when and how to roll it all out.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle – YouTube, SkyNews Australia
So why are there also reports about the show being renewed for a second season? The outlet further reported that Harry and Meghan “filmed the shows back-to-back so . . . there is no second season.” Rather, it’s part two of season one—a popular Netflix method for producing more content than they actually have. As such, the outlet stated that the royal couple’s “overall contract hasn’t been renewed yet.”
It’s All the Hate Watchers’ Fault!
Despite all this, Newsweek insists that the Meghan Markle solo show is doing fine. They state that With Love, Meghan made the Top 10 Netflix TV series list “globally, in America and in Britain, despite its many negative reviews.” They claim it matters because it’s “much needed good news for Meghan after excoriating reviews from outlets with no particular axe to grind.”
Furthermore, they claim that the Duchess of Sussex expected the reviews to be negative. Newsweek stated that Meghan Markle “has nonetheless proven that she can pull in viewers when not criticizing Prince Harry’s family and that is a positive that she can take away from the experience.”
But the most hilarious of all is Newsweek‘s attempt to spin it as the audience being at fault.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spoofed on South Park – YouTube, Comedy Central
Their exact words: “The Duchess of Sussex appears to have found a market for her show among hate watchers” and “viewers generally watched the whole series, in contrast to some of Meghan’s harsher critics, who stated publicly that they lost interest after only a few episodes.”
Yes, you read that correctly. Newsweek actually used the term “hate watchers” in their defense of Markle’s Netflix show.
Thus far, all other coverage on Markle’s show have been negative and critical. In other words, it seems the royal couple is running out of outlets to pay for positive press.
Are you surprised by any of this Meghan Markle Netflix news? Sound off in the comments below.
