When Meghan Markle first tied the knot with Prince Harry back in 2018, her star power looked unstoppable.
The royal wedding wasn’t just a royal occasion—it was a Hollywood-style showcase packed with A-list names like George and Amal Clooney, Oprah Winfrey, Idris Elba, and the entire Suits cast.
For many, it seemed like Meghan was set to seamlessly bridge the worlds of royalty and celebrity.
But fast forward to 2025, and things look very different.
As Meghan gears up to launch season two of her Netflix lifestyle series With Love, Meghan, critics are pointing out a glaring issue: the lack of major star power behind her show.
A Guest List That Falls Flat
The first season of With Love, Meghan struggled to attract big-name celebrities.
Mindy Kaling was arguably the biggest star to appear, while most other guests were personal acquaintances or linked to Meghan’s talent agency, WME.
Season two doesn’t seem much stronger. The most notable name this time is Chrissy Teigen, wife of John Legend and a TV personality in her own right.
The rest of the guest list reportedly includes Meghan’s Pilates instructor Heather Dorak, celebrity chef Clare Smyth (who catered her wedding), and designer Tan France, a longtime supporter of the Sussexes.
According to Hollywood insiders, this reliance on familiar faces rather than A-listers has made the series feel underwhelming—especially when compared to Meghan’s early promise of big-name connections.
From Oprah to Obscurity?
Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams reflected on this dramatic shift.
He noted that Meghan’s wedding guest list had been dazzling, but many of those connections never turned into long-term friendships.
George and Amal Clooney, for instance, later admitted they barely knew Meghan before the wedding.
Even Oprah, who once seemed aligned with the Sussexes after her headline-making interview, has distanced herself.
Idris Elba, James Corden, and other celebrities who once seemed close have also largely disappeared from the couple’s public orbit.
Fitzwilliams suggested this cooling of interest has left Meghan with fewer options to attract A-listers to her projects.
Critics Call Out Weak “Pulling Power”
The absence of household names, experts argue, reflects a larger problem: Meghan’s dwindling influence in Hollywood.
Fitzwilliams bluntly stated that without A-list support, Meghan risks fading into irrelevance.
Even Serena Williams, one of Meghan’s closest friends, hasn’t appeared on the series despite her star power being a perfect fit for Netflix.
The first season was already savaged by critics, with reviews calling it “tone-deaf,” “absurd,” and “joyless.”
Viewers mocked everything from Meghan bagging pretzels in plastic to a controversial homemade bath salt recipe.
With an IMDb rating of just 3.2/10 and a “rotten” 38% on Rotten Tomatoes, the show had little critical success to build on.
Netflix Deal Under the Microscope
Beyond the guest list problem, there’s also Meghan and Harry’s Netflix contract to consider.
Their initial five-year, $100 million deal was a huge win back in 2020.
But industry insiders now believe their new arrangement is much less lucrative.
Instead of a guaranteed payout, Netflix reportedly switched them to a “first-look” deal.
This means the streaming giant can pick and choose which of their projects to greenlight, paying them per production rather than offering a sweeping, upfront figure.
PR expert Mark Borkowski described it bluntly as a “downgrade” and a cautious way for Netflix to avoid overpaying for underperforming content.
A Christmas Special on the Horizon
Despite all the criticism, Meghan still has one more chance to change the narrative this year.
Netflix has lined up a Christmas special for December, which could give the Duchess the opportunity to bring in a surprise guest or deliver a breakout moment.
But experts warn that if the festive episode also lacks star appeal, Netflix may quietly pull back even further.
Without high-profile projects, Meghan and Harry’s once-glittering Hollywood future could continue to dim.
What’s Next for Meghan and Harry?
Right now, the Sussexes appear to be in a tricky spot.
With Spotify gone, Harry stepping away from Sentebale, and no new book projects on the horizon, Netflix remains their biggest platform.
But if With Love, Meghan fails to prove its worth, it raises serious questions about how much longer Hollywood will keep betting on them.
For Meghan, once heralded as a rising star blending royalty with celebrity, the challenge is clear: either find a way to bring genuine A-listers back into her circle—or risk watching her Hollywood dream slip further away.
