December 9, 2025 • 10 mins
Critics absolutely torch With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration, mocking broccoli wreaths, therapy-speak crackers and brunch guests in matching red PJs as reviewers label the show joyless, fake and unintentionally hilarious. The Free Press dubs Meghan the “Slop Princess,” while U.S. commentators say the Sussex brand is sliding fast: Harry’s Trump joke draws boos, their star power is “waning,” and Meghan’s eye is drifting toward Kardashians-style beauty deals. Now add in As Ever’s twelve-dollar chocolate bars with bee pollen and “weeds” that social media calls “insane” and “gross,” and you’ve got the full Montecito package: high price, high gloss, and a reputation that’s starting to melt.
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Hear our new show "Crown and Controversy: Prince Andrew" here.
Check out "Palace Intrigue Presents: King WIlliam" here.
👑 Follow our hit series Crown and Controversy! Season 1 and 2 are fully available now for everyone. Season 3 has new episodes every Sunday on the regular feed. GET THE FULL SEASON 3 BEFORE REGULAR LISTENERS as a subscriber! Hit that "UNINTERRUPTED LISTENING" Banner on the top of the Apple player. AND listen to Crown and Controversy "NORWAY'S ROYAL REBELS" here and get the full season as a premium subscriber now.
👑 The Palace Intrigue Social Hub is Live! Join the conversation on Facebook and Instagram or click the links to start your royal journey!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
A calorogus Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Pallas Intrigue.
I am your host, Mark Francis. At this time of year,
we are all thankful for Meghan's holiday special and all
the goodness it brings to podcasting. In the Times, Hilary
Rose writes, I'm not usually the praying type, but I
(00:24):
said a little prayer before watching with love meghan holiday celebration.
Give me the strength, I muttered, to endure what is
to come, and the grace not to give in to despair.
I've been struggling since the trailer landed a couple of
weeks ago, because it opened with Meghan in Welli's dancing
around Christmas trees shouting Hey. Now the whole festive episode
(00:44):
has arrived, and it is more than we could have
hoped for or done to deserve. It's unfathomable. Four pointless crafts,
three random friends, two unseen kids, one English prince and
a duchess in a pear tree, or at least making
pear syrup. So many traditions to embrace, she says, and
new ones to make, and so against the cacophony of
(01:06):
lift music and jingle bells. Our heroine proceeds to put
Christmas into therapy and see what comes out the other side.
Not Christmas for a start, Holidays? Is it a holiday tree?
Then does father Holiday come down the chimney. She subjects
crackers to psychoanalysis, pulling them in a moment of real connectivity.
She arranges raw broccoly in a circle and describes it
(01:28):
as a modernizing take on a Christmas wreath. Dressed in
the first and many neutral cashmere separates. She invites us
to place a bowl of dip in the center of
the platter or to the side, showing us, gracefully with
a manicure at hand, how to move the bowl around.
I can only assume that the part where she puts
on monogrammed red pajamas and talks about Keechen lorrain and
(01:49):
my fair lady accent was a fever dream. Some people arrive,
perhaps off the street, for brunch, also dressed in red pajamas.
They eat pudding first with a knife and fork. Then
Kish Megan tells them she has plans for them after lunch,
a clear signal to flee, and yet they don't, not
even when she says this is ow bevy of options
of wreathmaking someone says that the greatest meals are those
(02:12):
that leave your heart feeling full, and Megan is visibly
but prettily moved. He talks about the perfect imperfection that
comes from human connection, a level of gibberish that has
a practically implode with heartfelt empathy. You see why he's here,
She asks, Oh, let's see now to frog his book,
she rewards him with them darling cheese gouger, and everyone
(02:35):
says caucio, a peppy a lot, And then she asks,
can I give you a beverage as well? Instead of
having her locked up? He says yes. In the Telegraph,
Alison Pearson writes, joyless and fake. What a strange person,
Megan is? What kind of woman thinks relatable is having
friends over to craft various Christmas gifts and food stuffs,
which apparently will lay down those nostalgic family memories. For
(02:58):
some reason, I never had a friend who wanted to
make her own advent calendar and put individual love notes
to her kids in each day, nor a bosom pal
who yearned to create her own personalized Christmas crackers. We
were too busy working to pay the mortgage or dragging
four days worth of festive food back from the supermarket.
Father Christmas must be real reason, to Rachel my friend's
little girl, because mummies couldn't do all that work by themselves,
(03:21):
could they. The show begins with Megan buying a tree
once a year, we get to do the tree thing.
She tricks girlishly. Who goes to get a Christmas tree
without taking the kids, Archie and Littlebit and know where
to be seen. I guess they might pick an imperfect spruce,
which would play havoc with mum's perfectionist designs. Meghan decorates
the tree by herself, or she starts doing it. I
(03:43):
reckon there's a team of nervous elves poised behind the
camera to sprint into action and do Madam's bidding. You're
really able to encapsulate your family story, she says about
the tree decorations. So in the Duke and Duchess of
Sussex's case, the family story is one bereft grandpa in
very poor health who has never met his grandchildren because
he sold out a teeny bit to the media before
(04:03):
Harry and Meghan's wedding. Not to be confused with the
Sussexes selling out to the media with books and documentaries
trashing Harry's family that was bravely telling our truth. Oh
and on the paternal side, there's another grandpa in uncertain
health who has seen his California based grandchildren only a
handful of times, even though they bear their royal titles
because of them. Don't forget the brother and sister in
(04:24):
law who hate the Sussex's guts for causing the late
Queen and her husband so much distress in their final years,
and for implying the present King and Princess of Wales
were guilty of racism or at least unconscious bias, because
they were cold, weird Brits who didn't treat warm, empathetic
American Megan with sufficient deference or hug her. What she
is really interested in is the superficial, the presentation of
(04:47):
a wealthy, immaculate life that bossy, ambitious little Meghan with
her broken family must have dreamt of as a child.
She talks endlessly of hospitality, but has none of the
open heartedness and relaxation and to make her hospitable. At
times she comes close to diagnosing what ails her. I
get so fast about everything being perfect that she lose
(05:08):
the magic that even happens in the mistakes more palas
in just a moment in the Free Press, Susie Weiss writes,
Megan Mikle is the slop princess we deserve. I've come
the whole way around on Megan Markle. I started where
everyone did, completely enchanted by the gorgeous American actress who
(05:30):
got to ride an actual carriage to marry a real
life prince. The drama with her dad made her relatable.
She looked stunning at her wedding. She could do no wrong.
Then she did wrong, or at least she admitted a
major mistake when she decided that actually she didn't want
to be in the royal family. They are allegedly struck
up and repressed and kind of racist. Who would have thought.
(05:52):
She fled to Canada in California with her husband and
new baby. The good people of England called it mesit.
What followed was years of tabloid drama and lawsuits against
the press, and an Oprah Winfrey interview in which Meghan
said no one ever asked if she was okay, but
she would not be silenced. She launched a podcast about
girl bosses, which lasted a couple of months. Then there
(06:13):
was a lifestyle brand called American Riviera Orchard that's now
called as Ever that sells jam. She and her husband
signed a one hundred million dollar Netflix deal, which was
not renewed this past summer. Nevertheless, she persisted she has
made a holiday special for the streamer and in doing
so has totally won me back over. It is unhinged
and unintentionally hilarious. I could not recommend it more. Royal
(06:39):
commentators say the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are facing
a decline in their public standing, both in Hollywood and
more widely, as Prince Harry's appearance on The Late Show
with Stephen Colbaar prompted booze from the audience after a
joke about President Donald Trump. A source toward People magazine
that Meghan treats criticism as just noise, while Prince Harry
takes things more personally and remains detnsely protective of his wife.
(07:02):
Kinsey Chowfield on Unfiltered said their style power is fading.
That will frustrate them because they've experienced the dopamine hit
of adoration. Their confidence in leaving the royal family was
rooted in the perceived popularity. They'll keep putting themselves out
there because they need to make money. But Meghan's commercial
ambitions conflict with Harry's desire to rebuild royal bridges. As
(07:23):
long as she uses her title for business, the Royal
family will keep their distance, and as long as the
family keeps that distance, Harry's popularity will continue to suffer.
She often subtly addresses specific criticisms and interviews she absolutely
sees it. Meghan is more eager to respond to every
rumor or negative story. By contrast, she said, Harry is
(07:43):
the opposite. Meghan doesn't actively seek out negative feedback, while
Harry can't help himself. He reads it, looks for it,
and it hurts him. Despite such scrutiny, a People magazine
insiders said it never creates friction between them. They're fully
aligned and always operate as a team. Chaffield said they
seem to ignore real scandals. They follow, never complain, never explain,
(08:04):
only when it suits them. Hillary Fordage told Fox News
Digital either they really are oblivious to their fading star
power or just doing the utmost to manage their waning popularity.
Meghan is usually dismissive of criticism, while Harry takes it
deeply to heart. Meghan grew up Hollywood hardened, while Harry
is more easily wounded. Looking to the future, Chofield predicted,
(08:28):
I think Meghan will keep aligning herself with the Kardashians
and other power players. I expect her to launch something
in the beauty arena. She is fiercely independent. What Meghan wants,
Meghan gets. Meghan's newly launched twelve dollars chocolate bars have
drawn sharp criticism online, with many social media uses branding
(08:49):
both the flavors and the price insane and weird. The
Duchess of Sussex unveiled three limited edition bars featuring what
her as Ever brand describes as signature ingredients Milk chocolate
with short bread cookies and bee pollen, White chocolate with
flour sprinkles and ham hearts, and dark chocolate with raspberry
spread and sea salt. Reaction, however, was mixed. One critic wrote,
(09:11):
She's got to be joking. Twelve dollars for a chocolate
bar with weird flavors in it, Like who ruins chocolate
with flower sprinkles and bee pollen? Leave that for the bees.
Another commented there's no way I'd pay twelve dollars for
a random chocolate bar with weeds in it. Gross. There
you have it. If you'd like to email us our
addresses The Palace Intrigue at gmail dot com. And if
(09:34):
you'd like to hear me talk more about Megan Michael
as sarcastically as possible without commercials, just sign up there
on the Apple Player that says listen uninterrupted, and you
can get these shows, plus hundreds of others from Keller
Oger Shark Media, commercial free, and it makes a great
Christmas gift, even for yourself. We appreciate the support Mike
(09:55):
France has me thanks to John McDermott. This is Powers
Intrigue and as school h
A calorogus Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Pallas Intrigue.
I am your host, Mark Francis. At this time of year,
we are all thankful for Meghan's holiday special and all
the goodness it brings to podcasting. In the Times, Hilary
Rose writes, I'm not usually the praying type, but I
(00:24):
said a little prayer before watching with love meghan holiday celebration.
Give me the strength, I muttered, to endure what is
to come, and the grace not to give in to despair.
I've been struggling since the trailer landed a couple of
weeks ago, because it opened with Meghan in Welli's dancing
around Christmas trees shouting Hey. Now the whole festive episode
(00:44):
has arrived, and it is more than we could have
hoped for or done to deserve. It's unfathomable. Four pointless crafts,
three random friends, two unseen kids, one English prince and
a duchess in a pear tree, or at least making
pear syrup. So many traditions to embrace, she says, and
new ones to make, and so against the cacophony of
(01:06):
lift music and jingle bells. Our heroine proceeds to put
Christmas into therapy and see what comes out the other side.
Not Christmas for a start, Holidays? Is it a holiday tree?
Then does father Holiday come down the chimney. She subjects
crackers to psychoanalysis, pulling them in a moment of real connectivity.
She arranges raw broccoly in a circle and describes it
(01:28):
as a modernizing take on a Christmas wreath. Dressed in
the first and many neutral cashmere separates. She invites us
to place a bowl of dip in the center of
the platter or to the side, showing us, gracefully with
a manicure at hand, how to move the bowl around.
I can only assume that the part where she puts
on monogrammed red pajamas and talks about Keechen lorrain and
(01:49):
my fair lady accent was a fever dream. Some people arrive,
perhaps off the street, for brunch, also dressed in red pajamas.
They eat pudding first with a knife and fork. Then
Kish Megan tells them she has plans for them after lunch,
a clear signal to flee, and yet they don't, not
even when she says this is ow bevy of options
of wreathmaking someone says that the greatest meals are those
(02:12):
that leave your heart feeling full, and Megan is visibly
but prettily moved. He talks about the perfect imperfection that
comes from human connection, a level of gibberish that has
a practically implode with heartfelt empathy. You see why he's here,
She asks, Oh, let's see now to frog his book,
she rewards him with them darling cheese gouger, and everyone
(02:35):
says caucio, a peppy a lot, And then she asks,
can I give you a beverage as well? Instead of
having her locked up? He says yes. In the Telegraph,
Alison Pearson writes, joyless and fake. What a strange person,
Megan is? What kind of woman thinks relatable is having
friends over to craft various Christmas gifts and food stuffs,
which apparently will lay down those nostalgic family memories. For
(02:58):
some reason, I never had a friend who wanted to
make her own advent calendar and put individual love notes
to her kids in each day, nor a bosom pal
who yearned to create her own personalized Christmas crackers. We
were too busy working to pay the mortgage or dragging
four days worth of festive food back from the supermarket.
Father Christmas must be real reason, to Rachel my friend's
little girl, because mummies couldn't do all that work by themselves,
(03:21):
could they. The show begins with Megan buying a tree
once a year, we get to do the tree thing.
She tricks girlishly. Who goes to get a Christmas tree
without taking the kids, Archie and Littlebit and know where
to be seen. I guess they might pick an imperfect spruce,
which would play havoc with mum's perfectionist designs. Meghan decorates
the tree by herself, or she starts doing it. I
(03:43):
reckon there's a team of nervous elves poised behind the
camera to sprint into action and do Madam's bidding. You're
really able to encapsulate your family story, she says about
the tree decorations. So in the Duke and Duchess of
Sussex's case, the family story is one bereft grandpa in
very poor health who has never met his grandchildren because
he sold out a teeny bit to the media before
(04:03):
Harry and Meghan's wedding. Not to be confused with the
Sussexes selling out to the media with books and documentaries
trashing Harry's family that was bravely telling our truth. Oh
and on the paternal side, there's another grandpa in uncertain
health who has seen his California based grandchildren only a
handful of times, even though they bear their royal titles
because of them. Don't forget the brother and sister in
(04:24):
law who hate the Sussex's guts for causing the late
Queen and her husband so much distress in their final years,
and for implying the present King and Princess of Wales
were guilty of racism or at least unconscious bias, because
they were cold, weird Brits who didn't treat warm, empathetic
American Megan with sufficient deference or hug her. What she
is really interested in is the superficial, the presentation of
(04:47):
a wealthy, immaculate life that bossy, ambitious little Meghan with
her broken family must have dreamt of as a child.
She talks endlessly of hospitality, but has none of the
open heartedness and relaxation and to make her hospitable. At
times she comes close to diagnosing what ails her. I
get so fast about everything being perfect that she lose
(05:08):
the magic that even happens in the mistakes more palas
in just a moment in the Free Press, Susie Weiss writes,
Megan Mikle is the slop princess we deserve. I've come
the whole way around on Megan Markle. I started where
everyone did, completely enchanted by the gorgeous American actress who
(05:30):
got to ride an actual carriage to marry a real
life prince. The drama with her dad made her relatable.
She looked stunning at her wedding. She could do no wrong.
Then she did wrong, or at least she admitted a
major mistake when she decided that actually she didn't want
to be in the royal family. They are allegedly struck
up and repressed and kind of racist. Who would have thought.
(05:52):
She fled to Canada in California with her husband and
new baby. The good people of England called it mesit.
What followed was years of tabloid drama and lawsuits against
the press, and an Oprah Winfrey interview in which Meghan
said no one ever asked if she was okay, but
she would not be silenced. She launched a podcast about
girl bosses, which lasted a couple of months. Then there
(06:13):
was a lifestyle brand called American Riviera Orchard that's now
called as Ever that sells jam. She and her husband
signed a one hundred million dollar Netflix deal, which was
not renewed this past summer. Nevertheless, she persisted she has
made a holiday special for the streamer and in doing
so has totally won me back over. It is unhinged
and unintentionally hilarious. I could not recommend it more. Royal
(06:39):
commentators say the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are facing
a decline in their public standing, both in Hollywood and
more widely, as Prince Harry's appearance on The Late Show
with Stephen Colbaar prompted booze from the audience after a
joke about President Donald Trump. A source toward People magazine
that Meghan treats criticism as just noise, while Prince Harry
takes things more personally and remains detnsely protective of his wife.
(07:02):
Kinsey Chowfield on Unfiltered said their style power is fading.
That will frustrate them because they've experienced the dopamine hit
of adoration. Their confidence in leaving the royal family was
rooted in the perceived popularity. They'll keep putting themselves out
there because they need to make money. But Meghan's commercial
ambitions conflict with Harry's desire to rebuild royal bridges. As
(07:23):
long as she uses her title for business, the Royal
family will keep their distance, and as long as the
family keeps that distance, Harry's popularity will continue to suffer.
She often subtly addresses specific criticisms and interviews she absolutely
sees it. Meghan is more eager to respond to every
rumor or negative story. By contrast, she said, Harry is
(07:43):
the opposite. Meghan doesn't actively seek out negative feedback, while
Harry can't help himself. He reads it, looks for it,
and it hurts him. Despite such scrutiny, a People magazine
insiders said it never creates friction between them. They're fully
aligned and always operate as a team. Chaffield said they
seem to ignore real scandals. They follow, never complain, never explain,
(08:04):
only when it suits them. Hillary Fordage told Fox News
Digital either they really are oblivious to their fading star
power or just doing the utmost to manage their waning popularity.
Meghan is usually dismissive of criticism, while Harry takes it
deeply to heart. Meghan grew up Hollywood hardened, while Harry
is more easily wounded. Looking to the future, Chofield predicted,
(08:28):
I think Meghan will keep aligning herself with the Kardashians
and other power players. I expect her to launch something
in the beauty arena. She is fiercely independent. What Meghan wants,
Meghan gets. Meghan's newly launched twelve dollars chocolate bars have
drawn sharp criticism online, with many social media uses branding
(08:49):
both the flavors and the price insane and weird. The
Duchess of Sussex unveiled three limited edition bars featuring what
her as Ever brand describes as signature ingredients Milk chocolate
with short bread cookies and bee pollen, White chocolate with
flour sprinkles and ham hearts, and dark chocolate with raspberry
spread and sea salt. Reaction, however, was mixed. One critic wrote,
(09:11):
She's got to be joking. Twelve dollars for a chocolate
bar with weird flavors in it, Like who ruins chocolate
with flower sprinkles and bee pollen? Leave that for the bees.
Another commented there's no way I'd pay twelve dollars for
a random chocolate bar with weeds in it. Gross. There
you have it. If you'd like to email us our
addresses The Palace Intrigue at gmail dot com. And if
(09:34):
you'd like to hear me talk more about Megan Michael
as sarcastically as possible without commercials, just sign up there
on the Apple Player that says listen uninterrupted, and you
can get these shows, plus hundreds of others from Keller
Oger Shark Media, commercial free, and it makes a great
Christmas gift, even for yourself. We appreciate the support Mike
(09:55):
France has me thanks to John McDermott. This is Powers
Intrigue and as school h
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