Duchess of Sussex talks about her new eight-part series With Love, Meghan and more in 'most intimate interview in years'

The Duchess of Sussex has given what's been billed as her 'most intimate interview in years' to American magazine People ahead of the premiere of her new lifestyle and cooking show airing on Netflix.

With Love, Meghan will launch on the streaming giant on Tuesday evening in Australia, with eight episodes running 33 minutes each.

The duchess spoke about the series – which is part of her and Prince Harry's five-year deal signed with Netflix in 2020 and expires later this year – and more.

Watch the video above.

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Meghan was keen to talk up the show and invited the magazine into her Montecito home where she lives with Prince Harry and their two children Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three.

Here are the main takeaways from the interview.

Being a 'working mum'

Meghan said filming the new Netflix series was an opportunity for Archie and Lili to see the realities of her being a "working mum".

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"I loved that my children were able to watch me working and see the balance of that and understand what Mama does and is working to create and share," she said.

"It was really special because up until then, they hadn't seen me at work."

She said Archie recently told her: "Mama, don't work too hard".

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With Love, Meghan will be followed by the launch of the duchess's lifestyle brand As Ever as well as her new podcast series on Lemonada Media.

She said her business ventures would be educational for Lili.

"Being able to have my own little girl, as I've spent so much of my life championing the rights of girls and women, and to be able to see this as a multigenerational story – Archie is of course included in that, my husband is of course included in that – but I love the heritage feeling of it and knowing this is something that I can create in front of my daughter and teach her what it's like to be a working mum," she said.

"This is something that hopefully can be part of her legacy too."

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She's not an influencer

Of her return to Instagram years after shutting down her popular lifestyle website The Tig when she and Harry announced their engagement, the duchess said she was not an influencer.

"I see myself as an entrepreneur and a female founder and if the brand ends up influential, then that's great," she said.

"I loved The Tig, but I certainly love my husband more. So that was a choice I made at the time, and I wouldn't change that for a second.

"My husband met me when I had The Tig, and I see this spark in his eye when he sees me doing the thing that I was doing when he first met me."

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The series will show Meghan promoting and living a domestic idyll, but she insists she's not a a "trad wife".

But she does serve up their favourite Chinese takeaway food on crockery.

"I like being able to do a hybrid.. but even when I get takeout, I will try to plate it beautifully," she said, adding: "The series is about doing what you can do and doing it with love."

Living normal lives in Montecito

Meghan said she and Prince Harry are very much a part of the local community in Montecito, going out for dinner and inviting local parents and their children over for play dates during the school holidays.

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"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.

"We go to a lot of dinners, and not just in people's homes or private rooms; we just go into the restaurant. I really love that we can just have fun."

She even goes to public yoga classes that "sometimes have 40 to 50 people in them".

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Filming the series in someone else's kitchen

Responding to questions on why the series was not filmed in the Sussex's Montecito mansion (a rental nearby was chosen instead), Meghan said she wanted to protect the "safe haven" of the family home.

"We're a close-knit family, and I love those moments – putting Lili down for a nap, having lunch together, having sacred time together at the end of the day," she said.

"Our kitchen is where Mama just cooks for the family, and with a crew of 80-plus people, that's a lot of people to have in your house."

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But parts of their own home are shown throughout the series including their chicken coop, garden and orchard.

On cooking for her husband and children Meghan said: "I love making breakfast for my family.

"My husband and Archie both love fried eggs. There's a lot of bacon around here. And then sometimes you don't have time for all that, and you just put a frozen waffle in the toaster and call it a day. And there's no shame in that either."

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Reliving the 'honeymoon period' with Harry

Meghan's said her new creative business ventures helped her and Prince Harry relive their "honeymoon period" because he loved watching her scribbling notes and newsletters and enjoying the development process.

"We've been such a close team for so long that we're just in it beat by beat with each other," she said.

"And I love that. To be able to be a female founder and do that with my husband's support means everything."

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She said they enjoyed "day dates" in the afternoons when they had lunch together and "nightcap recaps" in the evenings when they enjoyed a drink and made lunch boxes as they chatted about their days.

They also love television shows including Shrinking, Black Doves and The White Lotus.

Refusing to give up their royal titles

It was the late Queen Elizabeth II who bestowed the titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Prince Harry and Meghan on their wedding day.

Meghan said the Sussex name "is part of our love story".

"It's our shared name as a family, and I guess I hadn't recognised how meaningful that would be to me until we had children," the duchess said.

"I love that that is something that Archie, Lili, H and I all have together. It means a lot to me."

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No mention of the royal family

In 2022, the couple spoke extensively about their time in the royal family during their six-part series Harry & Meghan on Netflix.

But this time around, there's no mention of anything royal.

Prince Harry appears in the final episode only, and briefly.

A crew member told People: "Whenever Harry visited set, he was always super polite and friendly but it was clear he wanted this to be Meghan's moment to shine."

Meghan did speak about how her life had changed dramatically in the five years since she was a working royal.

"Five years ago Archie was only eight or nine months old, so my life has changed so much," she said.

"Anyone who has children will tell you, it's a huge evolution as a woman during that time."

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She said filming the series had helped her to "find yourself again" now her children are a bit older.

"As a woman, a mum and a wife, to be able to find yourself again – in a way that was always present but that you maybe couldn't put as much attention on as you now can when your kids are a little bit older – is a wonderful feeling."

Being forced to rebrand

Meghan's associated business venture As Ever is set to launch in the spring in the US (any time from March).

The brand was originally known as American Riviera Orchard and was soft launched last year. But she faced numerous trademark issues and changed the name to As Ever.

"There are tons of twists and turns – even with the name," she said.

"I was figuring it out in real time. I appreciate everyone who gave me the grace to make mistakes and figure it out and also to be forgiving with myself through that. It's a learning curve."

The one thing she kept from the set of Suits

Meghan said this series would take her out of her comfort zone and was very different from her time in the spotlight during the seven seasons of the legal drama Suits.

"I was never really in front of the camera like this," she said.

Referencing the show's resurgence in popularity in 2023, Meghan said: "It's a time capsule for me – I still have the pencil skirt from the first episode.

"That's the one thing I kept."

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