Will the Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix show With Love succeed?

This is a picture of domestic bliss.

The Duchess of Sussex picks flowers, cuts vegetables and decorates cakes in a trailer for her new Netflix show.

There is also a scene where she collects honey and hugs her husband, Prince Harry.

Meghan seems to have rebranded. Public relations expert Chloe Frances described her new image as a “traditional wife”. trending on social mediainspired by 1950s housewives.

In that sense, it’s a departure for Meghan, who has been known as a feminist and Hollywood actress.

But Francis says it’s actually a return to Meghan’s roots, as the Duchess was a lifestyle blogger before marrying Harry.

And as always with Meghan, it’s divisive. Frances rates him as “genuine” and Alex Silver, a media relations expert, calls him “tone-deaf.”

So what’s the deal with her new TV show, With Love, and will it succeed?

One of the most striking things about the trailer is that Meghan is on her own, not with Harry.

After stepping down as royals in 2020 and moving to California, the couple have been involved in various ventures together, including a production company and a charitable foundation.

But with this new show, it looks like the couple is increasingly looking to do what they do professionally – and create two separate streams of income.

“They seem to have split their brands,” says Pauline McLaren, professor of marketing and consumer studies at Royal Holloway.

“I think it’s probably going to be a lot more successful because I think the two of them together haven’t gotten a lot of recognition.”

The reboot also marks a departure from royal life.

After Harry and Meghan stepped down as members of the royal family, they continued to talk about the monarchy – including in their 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey and Harry Spare’s book.

But in this new TV show, Meghan is no longer “leaning on her royal connections,” says McLaren.

Instead, it focuses on lifestyle and wellness, areas she had already explored before meeting Harry through her lifestyle blog, The Tig.

On The Tig, Megan shares beauty, diet and fashion tips, recipes, travel tips and words of wisdom about love and life.

Tig was shut down in 2017, but PR experts said a return to the lifestyle could be a smart move.

“It’s a well-trodden path for a woman in the public eye who leads a lifestyle that combines desire and complexity,” says Francis.

Others are more skeptical.

“There are more interesting and significant things going on in the world that she could talk about,” says Silver. “She could have spread awareness about a charity or something.

“I think she’s on her own. As a publicist, I cannot understand how she cannot read the number.’

Experiments in the lifestyle world have also backfired for some others in the public eye.

Brooklyn Beckham’s debut photo book was sharply ridiculed in social networksfor example – with one image of an elephant, which causes special anger.

This isn’t Megan’s first foray into the business world, an industry rich in risk and reward.

The pair’s previous business ventures include a multimillion-dollar deal with Netflix.

They appeared in another Netflix show called Harry and Meghan, which follows their relationship. Both were also named as executive producers of the recent documentary Polo, but it received poor reviews from critics, including The Guardian and The Telegraph.

Spotify’s big bet on Megan also failed.

In July 2023 streaming giant and Sussex-based Archewell Audio have announced they are parting ways by mutual consent.

At that time, experts suggested there there wasn’t a large enough audience for Megan’s Archetypes podcast to justify continuing.

Last March, she launched a new brand called American Riviera Orchard. He currently has over 600,000 followers on Instagram and nine posts since launch, but no posts since then.

With this new venture, some believe Meghan hopes to open up additional business opportunities, such as partnerships with major supermarkets and brands.

If so, she’ll be following in the footsteps of others like Hollywood mogul Gwyneth Paltrow with her wildly successful lifestyle platform Goop.

“Obviously, everything has to do with her commercial interests,” says Silver.

“They are aware that their income will dry up at some stage. Their lifestyle is quite luxurious, they belong to elite circles and do not want to be poor relatives.’

When it comes to the new TV show, royal expert Victoria Murphy says she “(doesn’t) think there’s any doubt that people will watch it at first and it will be good.”

But she says the real test will be whether she attracts a consistently large following and really creates a strong global brand for her beyond the monarchy.

McLaren agrees, saying she thinks the show will appeal to certain groups of people, especially in the US.

“A lot of the public won’t be interested in that, but I don’t think that’s her goal – I think she’s going to try to get other mothers like her really.”

Silver, for her part, claims Meghan may be hoping to “detox” her brand with the new show.

But she doesn’t think the show will resonate with the public.

“I can’t imagine it’s going to be a well-reviewed thing,” Silver says.

Perhaps the reaction to the trailer will tell us all we need to know about how this latest venture might go down.

Thousands of column inches have been devoted to him since he went down on Thursday.

The Daily Mail, for example, has highlighted every detail of every frame in the trailer, most of it unfriendly.

The Duchess seems to be of endless interest – especially to the British tabloids. But she also has a major fan base on social media.

Its detractors will say it’s glossy and superficial, Hollywood at its worst.

But for her fans, they’ll say it’s good to see her back and that it shows what the royal family is missing.

In other words, it’s likely to reinforce what people think of Meghan on both sides.

Additional reporting by Guy Lambert and Nadine Yusif.