This week, Jimmy Fallon made an extremely mild joke about the Duchess of Sussex transferring Trader Joe pretzels into a smaller bag for a guest on With Love, Meghan. I said that I hoped Meghan and her fans would understand that this was a compliment, that it means people are watching WLM and the show is culturally relevant enough to get a joke on the Tonight Show. I also said that it would be smart/funny for Meghan to give Fallon a bag of pretzels, or show (in some way) that she has a sense of humor about all of the insanity around WLM. Well, it looks like that is the plan in some way. Meghan sent a handwritten note to a podcaster who expressed “concerns” about WLM – a small sign that Meghan is paying attention to what’s being said, by certain people at least.
Meghan Markle is showing she can roll with the jokes when it comes to her new Netflix show — and she’s got the pen game to match. Two weeks after With Love, Meghan premiered on March 4, Meghan, 43, sent a witty response to Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast host Amanda Hirsch, who voiced concerns over the lifestyle show’s reception before it was released.
Hirsh proudly shared a letter she got from the Duchess of Sussex in an Instagram post on Wednesday, March 19, which PEOPLE can confirm is real.
Hirsch’s post began with a screenshot of her comment on Meghan’s Instagram post featuring the With Love, Meghan trailer. “You guys I’m scared for Meghan,” Hirsch wrote.
In response, Meghan wrote to Hirsch: “Dear Amanda, I heard you were feeling scared. Don’t be! This is the fun part — let’s enjoy it.”
Hirsch was seemingly surprised by the letter, captioning the post, “OH MY DUCHESS.”
The podcaster shared more about the meaning of her original comment in her Instagram Stories. “Remember I said I was scared for Meghan’s new show and the possible hate she would get bc for some reason ppl wanna hate on her about everything?” she asked her followers.
In a follow-up Story showing the letter, Hirsch said Meghan now has a new “fan for life.”
“Like, obviously framing this,” Hirsch wrote. “Beyond shook. Beyond spiraling. Did I smell the paper? Yes! Do I want my own monogram? Yes. Am I absolutely flabbergasted and obsessed. F—. YES.”
This might end up being something like the jam-baskets last year – a piece of cultural cachet, if you get a note or card from Meghan. I certainly hope she’s sending out more of those! As for Hirsch… I don’t follow or listen to her pod, but it’s pretty popular and she gets major guests. That could be a piece of the larger puzzle too, as Meghan reenters the podcast world – making an effort to befriend some fellow female podcasters. I obviously didn’t follow what Hirsch said about WLM initially, but the Mail had a summary – Hirsch was worried that people were going to “pile on” Meghan for being “inauthentic.” Hirsch didn’t seem like a hater, but she was expressing concern that the hate machine against Meghan would get stronger with the show.
Photos courtesy of Netflix, Instagram.
I hope Meghan sends out PR packages for As Ever to foodie influencers.
I reckon it will be her TIG fans first.
Good for Meg. Time and trauma has passed for the most part and Meg is on it!!
Meghan’s response speaks to where she is in her life now, as she stated this is her era of “Joy.” Thoughtful and courteous to respond to what seems like genuine concern from the podcaster.
And that she seems really excited by the path her life is taking right now. Which fills me with so much happiness and relief.
She’s always concerned about others. I remember when she reached out to Omid and asked him if he was ok after Endgame.
What a nice person.
NB Camilla/Kate – this is how it works. The recipient of note states note exists – not the sender.
I don’t recall hearing about the note Omid thing. I guess she knows how it feels to be through the BM grinder just for doing your job properly, and how exhausting and devastating it can be. That was thoughtful of her.
To me, it also shows proof that other people, aside from Celebitchy and the Sussex Squad see what’s being done by the BM and their ilk and feel for her. So glad to hear of this.
@Blogger, I don’t think she called after Endgame. She was living in USA for years then. She called him while still working in UK, because he was getting attacked online by trolls for not writing negative articles about Meghan. She herself was suicidal at the time due to the attacks.
A sweet note and sentiment from Meghan. I’m glad Amanda shared it with us. The part where she says “this is the fun part. Let’s enjoy it” is a vibe. We need something to enjoy and Meghan has given us that.
Bless her for it.
very sweet, and by most accounts she’s extremely thoughtful. How does she have time?!
That new CCO (Chief Communications Officer) is earning her money, y’all….I love it, what a fun communications strategy that gets measurable media notice (including the nod on Fallon, I agree that if WLM wasn’t part of the cultural conversation he wouldn’t have done it). No stuffy formal statement, probably cost little to nothing and shows Meghan’s sense of humor. Well played!
Very cute and sweet. Really liked the caption of “oh my duchess”
It’s interesting that the Daily Fail website (yes, I go and have a look. Know thy enemy) framed this as ‘Meghan sends note to podcaster after savage takedown’ – clearly the impression they wanted to give is our Duchess was responding to someone who criticised her, implying she is thin-skinned, can’t take the heat. When actually, the opposite is true.
Notice also how the DF revived the ghost of “inauthentic” in the story as well.
I noticed the Mail is requiring a subscription to view some of its articles. My, how the mighty are falling! 😁
I feel like this is directed to all of Meghan’s supporters who are tired of seeing the inevitable hate that comes her way with anything she does. Don’t be scared, enjoy it, because Meghan is. She’s over the hate and while I’m sure someone is following it for security reasons and the like, she’s moved so far past the british hate machine that it’s not even in her rearview mirror at this point.
She’s in her era of joy and I love that for her. I also love it for me, as a 43 year old woman with two kids – I can rediscover things that bring me joy and bring out the fun side of life.
Agreed. It felt like her saying guys I appreciate your concern and I love you for it, but I’m okay. I’m happy and you should be too. So I’m going to take her advice.
The British media is getting more and more unhinged and more and more people are like will you guys give it a rest, it’s not that serious. Their communications team also seems to have things well in hand, and know what to respond to what not to respond to, and how that response should be serious or silly.
I also think her comms team is showing that you can be aware of some of the discourse but also have fun with it. Prior to that Meghan seemed isolated and if there were responses it mostly seemed defensive. Something like this makes it look like Meghan is in control of the situation and will ignored the bad and respond to the good.
yes! This makes Meghan seem like she’s in full control of her own narrative, for the first time in a long time.
I am waiting now for her to send Jimmy Fallon pretzels, lol.
I love this. I’m so happy for Meghan.
I’ve always kind of liked that Meghan clearly loves that she learned calligraphy and takes whatever occasion she can to utilize it. Like, it was such a smart side hustle skill to learn when she was a young and jobbing actress, and I admire her for finding something she could fill a niche for that not many people would consider, and that she’s kept it up after finding success just because she thinks it’s awesome that she can do it.
I love this and all the comments here.
Y’all are just purely lovely, and you are the supporters our joyful Duchess deserves.
@Debbie
“Despite having her own tormentors to deal with, Meghan reportedly called Scobie in the summer of 2018 to check if he was OK. The duchess’ then-press secretary, Sara Latham, had informed her of the author’s situation, he wrote in the book.”
https://www.businessinsider.com/royal-biographer-omid-scobie-endgame-interview-2023-11
It must have been after Finding Freedom, not Endgame.
Anyone who has any real contact with Meghan comes away from the experience filled with respect for her.
She’s just a good person.
She truly is just a kind and beautiful soul.. little things like this are one of the reasons I just love her.
Everyone that actually knows her , love’s her , I think her and Harry would be the most wonderful friends .
Meghan seems absolutely delightful ,despite all the terrible smear campaign painting her the exact opposite .
A little off topic and late to the comments, but where has Jessica Mulroney disappeared to? You’d think if she and Meghan were still close friends she would have wangled a guest appearance on WLM, but not a peep. After the Sasha Exeter mess she tried to backtrack/apologize/explain but it apparently was enough for Meghan to cut ties with her because she seemed to be trying to use their friendship for clout.
That is funny. Hope she does send something out to Fallon.