Meghan Markle ‘placed status above reality’ and struggled to separate her own image from Suits character, claims royal author as season two of With Love, Meghan, is set to be released

For many people, Meghan Markle’s public persona can be divided into two halves.

There is Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, who married Prince Harry in a fairytale ceremony at Windsor Castle.

And then there’s Rachel Zane, the driven and highly ambitious paralegal, whom Meghan portrayed in the hit series Suits for seven seasons.

But according to a royal author, Meghan, 44, struggled to separate herself from her role and took criticism for her character as a personal attack. 

This comes as part two of With Love, Meghan, is due to air on Netflix on Tuesday, after Meghan and Harry signed a ‘downgraded’ new deal with the streamer.

Meghan’s lifestyle show failed to break into Netflix’s top 300 programmes for the first half of 2025 and was even thrashed by multiple seasons of Suits. The number of people watching was ‘dismal’, an insider at the streamer reportedly said.

Speaking of her Suits role, biographer Tom Bower wrote in his book, Revenge: Meghan, Harry, and the War Between the Windsors: ‘Uppermost in her mind was her image.

‘Convinced that she was on the cusp of international celebrity, she had become pre-occupied with Rachel Zane’s character.

‘Constantly, she absorbed Aaron Korsh’s vision for Zane, the feisty opportunist with extraordinary manipulative skills.

‘To her delight, Korsh inserted her own personal interests into the script. Zane became a foodie. He also agreed to limit the number of love scenes with her dressed in just a bra.

‘Anything critical alarmed Meghan. Trawling the internet, she read that a handful of viewers had protested that Zane was about to start an affair.

‘She was alarmed that she, Meghan Markle, was personally blamed.

‘Her own reputation, she feared, was threatened by her portrayal in Suits as an “unfaithful woman”. 

‘Worried about potential backlash, she beseeched Korsh to end that storyline and the affair.

‘Korsh agreed, aware that he was not only writing a good story but also Meghan’s real-life character and personality.

‘Absorbing Korsh’s interpretation of loyalty and power-play, Meghan was pleased to be cast in what she saw as her true colours, the compassionate mould he was creating. 

‘In that new image, Meghan placed her status above reality.’

According to Mr Bower, it was Korsh who introduced Meghan to designer clothes.

He wrote: ‘Calling Meghan “Little Fox”, Jolie Andreatta, the series’s costume designer, dressed the actress in Dior, Prada, Burberry and similar labels.

‘For many viewers, the focus of the series became the outfits. Meghan credited Andreatta with influencing her understanding of fashion, especially the power of white shirts, Tom Ford pencil skirts and the importance of “The Fit”.

‘To her disappointment, Andreatta said in an interview that Meghan was not her favourite actress to dress.’ 

Ahead of her Netflix series, With Love, Meghan, the Duchess told People Magazine: ‘I still have the pencil skirt from the first episode! That’s the one thing I kept.’

While starring in Suits, Meghan signed as the face of high-profile Canadian fashion store Reitmans in August 2015, modelling a range of sexy, skin-tight clothing in a variety of sultry poses and designing eponymous collections. 

She said the clothes were intended to give Suits fans a way to access the designer pieces, such as those by Tom Ford and Rachel Comey, that her character wore.

Even after leaving acting behind to marry into the Royal Family, the Duchess continues to obsess over curating the perfect image. 

Her Netflix series, With Love, Meghan, was criticised for being out of touch and depicting an idealised and unattainable lifestyle. 

Candian comedian Katherine Ryan criticised the Duchess of Sussex on her podcast, Telling Everybody Everything, saying it feels as though Meghan puts on an act of ‘oh, I’m just so humble’ in her new TV show.

The comedian insisted she had ‘liked’ Meghan, was ‘rooting for her’ and believed the Duchess’s claim that she suffered from ‘institutionalised racism’ while in Britain.

But after the release of the new lifestyle series ‘With Love, Meghan’ on Netflix, Ryan, who has three shows on the streaming platform herself, hit out at her.

And comedian Christina Pazsitzky described the show – and Meghan – as ‘highly inauthentic’, ‘fake’ and ‘phony’.

Meghan, who lives in a sprawling $14.65million Montecito mansion, hit back at claims that her Netflix series was out of touch by insisting she and Harry are trying to be like other families with children at school.

She also revealed how she goes to yoga and fitness classes with 40 to 50 others – sometimes on her own or with friends – and she recently greeted a stranger next to her with a fist bump and a ‘well done’.

Meghan said: ‘Once you know us, I think you want us to have the same normalcy as parents and for our children as they do, despite however unique our situation is.’

‘I have a couple of girlfriends up here – these are stay-at-home moms and working women with normal jobs, not in the public eye,’ the Duchess of Sussex told People.

‘We went from just connecting through our kids to having girls’ nights out or doing Pilates together.’

One mother from the school run said Meghan went to a child’s birthday party where she was ‘chilling’ with parents and talked about ‘mom stuff and life’.

A trailer for season two of With Love, Meghan teased celebrity guests such as Chrissy Teigen, fashion guru Tan France, and acclaimed chefs including Jose Andres, David Chang, Samin Nosrat, Clare Smyth and Christina Tosi.

Previously, Nick Ede, a brand culture expert, claimed that With Love, Meghan was part of the Duchess’s rebrand to become ‘the new Martha Stewart’.

In her show, the Duchess corrected Mindy Kaling on her title – a clip of which was shared and ridiculed on social media.

‘It’s so funny you keep saying Meghan Markle, you know I’m Sussex now,’ she awkwardly responded to Ms Kaling.

When Ms Kaling appeared confused, Meghan continued: ‘You have kids, and you go, “No, I share my name with my children.” I didn’t realise how meaningful it would be, but it means so much to say, “This is our family name. Our little family name.”‘ 

Meghan also filmed a Christmas special for broadcast in December, in a potential clash with the Princess of Wales’s annual carol concert at Westminster Abbey.

The first series showed the former Suits star inviting friends and famous guests to a California estate, where she shared cooking, gardening and hosting tips.

But it was criticised by many reviewers who called it ‘sensationally absurd and trite’, with the Duchess of Sussex branded ‘tone-deaf’ and punting a show that ‘vibrates with vacuous joylessness’.

It has an IMDB rating of 3.2/10 and a 38 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, indicating that the TV show is considered ‘rotten’.

Meghan was also lampooned for putting pretzels from the packet into a plastic bag and one viewer even threatened to sue, claiming her recipe for homemade bath salts had burned her skin.

It came as experts said the Sussexes’ new Netflix deal is a ‘downgrade’ on their previous $100million five-year tie-up and more ‘we’ll call you’ than ‘here’s the chequebook’.

The couple signed a new ‘multi-year, first-look deal for film and television projects with the streaming giant – understood to be worth less for the pair than their previous contract.

The ‘first-look’ arrangement means Netflix can say yes or no to new film or television projects before anyone else – allowing it to pick and choose what it invests in.

PR expert Mark Borkowski described the new deal as a ‘downgrade’, claiming it falls a long way from the jackpot figure of Harry and Meghan’s original contract in 2020.

He told the Daily Mail: ‘I think Netflix has done a very neat job of pivoting away from two very expensive people who didn’t deliver, and they’ve taken that deal off the table, and they’ve given them a modest one.

‘It’s not like they’re gradually uncoupling – it’s a downgrade. Netflix are not going to expose themselves to those budgets again. It’s Netflix saying, “Let’s have a look at your content, but we’ll pick and choose, mate.”‘

Five years ago, Harry and Meghan secured a lucrative contract thought to be worth $100million (£74million) with Netflix after quitting as senior working royals in 2020.

The renewed deal was described by the Sussexes – who made the announcement with Netflix – as ‘extending their creative partnership’ through Archewell Productions.

But the new terms are understood to be worth less for Harry and Meghan than their previous contract, according to a person familiar with the deal, and represent Netflix loosening its ties with the couple.

In a statement, Meghan said: ‘We’re proud to extend our partnership with Netflix and expand our work together to include the As Ever brand.’

Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria said: ‘We’re excited to continue our partnership.’