For years, Meghan Markle was hounded by “difficult behavior” allegations when she was still in the U.K. and part of the Royal Family. But after exiting the Firm with her husband, Prince Harry, and choosing to settle in the U.S., the claims appeared to die down until recently.
In January 2025, the allegations resurfaced when Vanity Fair published an 8,000-word exposé citing former palace employees who had worked with the Duchess of Sussex before the couple’s exit in 2020. The Royal staffers accused Markle of creating a toxic work environment that allegedly left some needing therapy and others quitting.
Meghan Markle was ‘cold and withholding’ to staffers, created a ‘really awful’ workplace: source https://t.co/kHthomIt0p pic.twitter.com/frOLQU0llv
— Page Six (@PageSix) January 17, 2025
Now, in what could be carefully planned PR push to counteract the past allegations and the negative reviews being lobbed at With Love, Meghan, the team who worked with Markle for her new Netflix series has showered her with praise in an attempt to counteract the negativity brought about by the exposé. Michael Steed, the director of With Love, Meghan, led the effort in an interview with People.
“Everyone has their own version of her, but she’s just someone who’s constantly hustling and working. Her cooking is pretty spot-on. She’s not a chef, and it’s definitely not meant to make it seem like she is, but there’s just a love of cooking that is palpable.
A crew member, who spoke anonymously, echoed the sentiment and even described Markle as incredibly “warm,” “approachable,” and “genuine” throughout the production. The staffer went as far as claiming, “She made sure everyone felt included, from Netflix executives to our director to every PA on set. No one was left out.”
“Most of the time, we’re expected to fade into the background, to be invisible. But in this show, we were part of it. We were included. It was a very unique and refreshing experience,” the unnamed crew member added.
Aside from Vanity Fair‘s explosive story, however, Markle got dragged last September 2024 when The Hollywood Reporter ran a similar report about palace insiders claiming Markle’s former employees were “terrified” of her and one of them branding the former senior royal “dictator in heels” behind closed doors.
To counter such allegations, Markle’s camp has been busy repairing her image. Ever since the announcement of Netflix’s With Love, Meghan, reports and snippets have been portraying her as someone who is congenial and pleasant to everyone. Her team even purportedly came up with a perfect image rehabilitation program that involved her pals.
For instance, actress and producer Mindy Kaling gushed over Markle’s natural skills in the kitchen and home garden on the red carpet of the Golden Globes. “She surprisingly kind of blew me out of the water,” Kaling said of the Duchess after working with her on the set of the new series.
Another pal, Kelly McKee Zajfen, a cofounder of the nonprofit Alliance of Moms, also heaped praise on Markle after the show officially premiered on March 4. “Grateful to witness my best friend shine so brightly. Meghan, you are pure magic and so full of love in everything you do—hosting, nurturing, creating joy. It all pours out of you so effortlessly,” Zajfen wrote on Instagram while sharing a photo from the set as she’s one of the guests featured in the series.
Well, naysayers have been aiming their negative takes at the Netflix series in droves, calling it tacky and pretentious, but it is widely known that the streaming giant doesn’t give even the biggest shows a chance if they don’t prove to be profitable. And seeing that With Love, Meghan has already bagged the greenlight for a season 2, it is clear that all the allegations and criticisms in the world didn’t stop the duchess’ show from climbing the streaming charts.
Published: Mar 9, 2025 11:08 am