The Duchess of Sussex, in the second episode of her new Netflix cookery show With Love,Meghan, shares how her passion for jam-making stems from childhood memories of her grandmother making apple butter. However, her estranged father, 80-year-old Thomas Markle Sr, has criticised the series, claiming Meghan has “never been authentic” and that “she’s faking it for the cameras.”
He said that whilst his mother Doris, who passed away in 2011, deeply cared for Meghan, she would be distressed by her granddaughter’s recent statements. “I haven’t seen the show but I’ve seen a ton of clips and I’ve read many stories. I might sit down and watch it one day but I’m not sure,” Meghan’s father, Thomas Markle Sr told The Daily Mail on Sunday.
During the show, viewers noticed an interaction between Meghan and Mindy Kaling, where Meghan interrupts her friend for using ‘Meghan Markle‘, stating: “It’s so funny you keep saying ‘Meghan Markle’, you know I’m ‘Sussex’ now.”
Thomas responded: “My mum loved Meghan very much but she would be so disappointed to hear that Meghan no longer wants to use the name “Markle.” He further remarked sarcastically: “Now I have to say, I am Meghan Sussex’s dad.”
Thomas, a seasoned Hollywood professional who has worked on shows like Married… with Children and General Hospital, shared insights from his industry experience, stating that: “Cooking shows are horrendously boring unless the presenter has a passion for it.”

“You have to be authentic to hold people’s attention. When you are stuffing the turkey’s ass it has to look like you’re having fun doing it. Unfortunately Meghan has never been authentic. She has to think about everything. She’s not spontaneous. Everything she says is pre-planned and rehearsed. It makes me laugh because I know all her looks and expressions,” the retired TV lighting director, said.
He continued: “I know when she’s faking it for the cameras. She’s trying so hard to be perfect that she tenses up every time the camera is on her.”
“The best cooks are funny, they mess up, they are human. She just wants to be perfect. It’s sad because she’s trying so hard to stay in the limelight,” he added.
In the Netflix series, Meghan portrayed herself as a “latchkey kid” and discussed her supposedly modest upbringing, claiming regular consumption of fast food and TV dinners stating that: “I grew up with a lot of fast food and also a lot of TV tray dinners. It feels like such a different time but that was so normal with the microwavable kids meals.’
Thomas countered this narrative, explaining, “We occasionally ate TV dinners, which family doesn’t?’ But I was working two jobs so money was never an issue. We would eat out at least three times a week and order in the rest of the time.”
Contrary to claims of a fast-food upbringing, Meghan regularly visited Musso & Frank, an upscale Hollywood establishment operating since 1919, which was her preferred dining spot.
Thomas elaborated: “Like any single father who did a long day’s work, I’d occasionally put a TV dinner in the microwave. But most of the time we’d go out. After school I would either pick her up myself and we’d go out to eat or I’d send a car to bring her to the set. She grew up on the sets I worked on. She was never a latchkey kid.”
He noted that whilst his former spouse excelled at cooking, Meghan showed limited interest in culinary pursuits during her childhood. He considers her current show disconnected from everyday reality.
“Meghan should make affordable food and show people how to stretch their food budget,” he suggested further adding that, “The women who watch Meghan’s show are not all rich and privileged. I think people would love it if she focused on more economical dishes.”
These statements follow recent criticism from Thomas Markle Jr, who disputed Meghan’s childhood accounts in her Netflix programme.
“That’s just another one of the malarkey stories she sold to the royal family for sympathy,” Thomas Jr. told TalkTV, having not communicated with the duchess for over ten years.
“We weren’t poor. She didn’t have to rub two nickels together at Sizzler’s salad bar. The entire world knows how she treated her family, especially her father, who gave her everything. That’s why nobody’s buying it,” he added.
Last week, it was revealed that the second season of With Love, Meghan has already been filmed and is set to premiere on Netflix this summer. The series is part of the Sussexes’ five-year, $100 million deal with the streaming giant, which is set to expire in October. However, many in Hollywood speculate that Netflix may opt not to renew the agreement.