Sept. 5, 2025

Duchess Meghan Markle Sussex's Name Drama, her $28 Potato Chips, and a Lifestyle Brand No One Asked For

Show Notes
Transcript

Meghan Markle is making headlines again — this time for apparently not knowing her own legal name. Royal experts are calling her “extraordinary” and “completely incorrect,” while critics are tearing into her cooking show, pricey potato chips, and $90 rosé. Some reviewers call With Love, Meghan “garden porn without the fun,” while others liken it to “being gaslit by a multimillionaire.” Plus, what Meghan’s products actually deliver, why the Queen’s legacy still overshadows the Sussexes, and the 10 questions MPs should be asking about the Royal Family’s money and power.

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Calorouga Shark Media, Hello and welcome through Palace Intrigue and

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Hurst Mark for Answers.

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Megan apparently doesn't even know what her name is. Speaking

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in a recent interview with journalist Emily Chang, Meghan said

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her legal name is Megan Duchess of Sussex, but royal

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commentator Victoria Arbor had told Australia's Nine Honey, this is

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extraordinary and I want to know exactly who it is

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that is schooling her because she insists in saying that

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her legal name is Megan Duchess of Sussex. But actually

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to the royal boffin's out there, they'll know that that

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denotes a royal divorce. A Chang, pointing to the post

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divorce titles used by Diana and Princess of Wales and

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Sarah Duchess of York, told the outlet, it's kind of

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all she has that people are really interested in. It

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always comes back to the royal in laws. It always

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comes back to that royal life, and it's because that's

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their biggest cash cow to milk. King Charles's second cousin,

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Lord Ivor mount Batten, also wade in telling Town and

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Country magazine it's interesting because she's completely incorrect. They are

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the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, but actually he's Harry

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mount Batten Windsor and she would be Meghan mount Batten Windsor.

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Royal commentator Affu Hagen says, Meghan is resilient to the hilt.

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There's people that absolutely love Meghan, so whatever she does,

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they will buy into it and they'll love it, she said.

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And there's people that absolutely hate her, so we'll hate

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watch it so they can criticize her. But she forges

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on regardless. She's resilient to the hilt. In the face

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of all this criticism. She just gets on with it

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because she believes in what she's doing. It's about Harry

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and Meghan just getting on with their lives. She's strong,

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she's determined. She truly believes in what she's doing. In

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The Royalist, Tom Sykes writes, it would be incredibly refreshing

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if just once Meghan could simply acknowledge the obvious. She

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was not well known before she married Prince Harry. That

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marriage made her world famous. She could also do herself

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a favor and clarify afresh that Queen Elizabeth whatever Meghan's

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personal disagreements with the institution, she ran embodied duty and

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service in a way that commanded global respect. Meghan does

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not have to endorse everything the monarchy did to conceive

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that the late Queen was an extraordinary example of showing

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up in the world and doing good work. Instead, she

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continues to present herself as if the family spent all

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its energy controlling her passport, her wardrobe, and now her underwear.

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Meghan's cooking show is the gift that keeps on giving.

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Food writer Sylvana Franco set out to recreate Meghan's potato

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chips a recipe. Despite using just four ingredients Russi potatoes, salt,

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peanut oil, and powdered vinegar, the cost quickly added up.

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Meghan opted for a peanut oil, not sunflower or canola,

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which set Franco back around seven dollars for a liter,

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but the real splurge was the vinegar. Rather than using liquid,

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Meghan used a rare white vinegar powder to keep the

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chips crisp. Unable to find the exact part in the UK,

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Franco settled for an apple side of vinegar powder, which

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costs roughly twenty one dollars for an eight ounce pouch.

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All told, the ingredient's total about twenty eight dollars, compared

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to a family sized bag of chips at the grocery

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store for two to four dollars. Franco acknowledged that the

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results were impressive, describing the chips as beautiful, fantastic, and

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perfectly crisped with a slow fry technique, but in her

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column for The Telegraph, she was frank about the hassle

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if you are not going to make these very often,

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and I'm not sure it would be worth the effort

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of buying all the ingredients, especially when you can get

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a packet of these as easy as anything. The New

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York Post writes, after years of crying wolf about palace life,

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burning bridges with the royal family, and angling to reposition

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herself as a Hollywood taste maker, the Duchess of Sussex

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is trying to play the lifestyle game. The problem she's

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not very good at it. Michael always plays the expert,

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dominating the action with a hand froth and one hand

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in a smug, steamrolling smile on her face. Recipes whizz

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by at lightning speed, too complicated to replicate at home,

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But thanks to the magic of editing. Michael miraculously nails

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every attempt. Sour dough, perfect coconut macaroons, perfect jewelry made

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from pressed flowers, Perfect with love. Megan is essentially one

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long Instagram video of garden pawn meets borrowed farmhouse chic.

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There's no emotional connection and also none of the winking

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camp that made Portrows ridiculous. The Goop Lab series a

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fun mark. Michael doesn't seem interested in taking creative swings

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as much as reminding the world that she can do

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everything flawlessly. The irony is that by playing it safe,

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Michael has made herself unwatchable. She's chasing Goop's empire without

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grasping that Paltrow's secret weapon is her sly awareness that

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she is selling an outlandish fantasy. In The Independent, Helen

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Coffee gave it a one star review, saying it was

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like being gas lit by a multi millionaire. Helen writes

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when she lectures us while grilling French toasts, that it's

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not as complicated as most people think it is to

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make hot breakfast for your partner and kids every morning.

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I'm merely a working woman, not even a working parent,

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and I can still fill the burgeoning tendrils of shame

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blossoming when I consider my own morning ritual of chucking

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cereal into a bowl. And yet the show's purpose doesn't

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seem to be to demonstrate how one might pull off

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these ridiculous feats. Recipes are only half explained, Specifics of

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paints and craft materials aren't actually shared. It's as if

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they already know that no one in their right mind

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is going to attempt this stuff. You may be wondering

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if any of Megan's products are good. According to Good

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Housekeepings Susan Chong, a few items live up to the

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brand's promise of quiet luxury, though the prize tags may

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give some pores. Among the highlights, the as Ever Rose

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is as grit as elegant but pricey, with a three

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bottle bundle costing ninety dollars. Chung notes the wine has

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presents and polish, but admits the cost is more about

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image than contents. Actually, I have a bottle of that

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sitting in the fridge, and one day I'll get around

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to tasting it and give you my thoughts. The edible

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flower sprinkles at fifteen dollars for a small tin were

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surprisingly charming on desserts, though perhaps not suited for every

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day use. The fourteen dollars Creak Mixed delivered resilable results

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with minimal effort, making it a suitable gift for fans

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of the touches. The peppermint tea price to twelve dollars

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for twelve sachets, earned praise for its clean flavor and

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stylish presentation, and the apricot spread at nine dollars or

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fourteen dollars and keeps Say packaging was singled out as

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a standout, offering a bright, tangy flavor and texture intentionally

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looser due to its low sugar content. John concluded the

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line delivers on quality and esthetics, particularly as a gift.

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More Palace is just a moment. Don't forget there's a

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We really appreciate the support. In the Telegraph, Alan Rush

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Bridger has the ten questions MPs she would ask about

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the royal family. Number one, is it reasonable that the King,

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in addition to the payment for the job, should pocket

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nearly thirty million pounds a year from the Duchy of Cornwall,

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otherwise known as his subjects or even MP's constituents. Number two.

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While we're on the King, could he be a bit

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more forthcoming about the private income from investments inherited wealth

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and the revenue stream from the states such as Sandingham,

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where he owns some three hundred houses and bow Moral.

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Could he tell us what, if any tax he pays

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on any of that? Number three William, In addition to

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his sovereign grant, he gets around twenty four million pounds

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a year. NIC's work if you can get it only

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it doesn't involve much work. Number four Andrew Epstein, the

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Chinese spy, the Grace and Favor House, all the dodgy

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stuff around pitchat Palace Where to begin? Five the houses.

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William apparently doesn't want to live in Windsor Castle. None

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of them want to live in Buckingham Palace. The King

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wants to get Andrew out of his house. Do they

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really need nine occupied royal palaces as well as Balmral

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and Sandringham? Six Buckingham Palace in particular, could the King

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please give the gardens to Londoners as another public park.

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Number seven Princess Beatrice. Last week she featured in promo

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pictures for a UAE Bank's new London branch. There, she

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was ninth in line, smiling in the line up, alongside

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first Aba Dhabi's group chief executive Hannah al roster Mani,

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the bank's vice chairman Muhammad bin safe al Nahana, and

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three board members. What was she doing there? Number eight

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the slimmed it down monarchy? Is it still happening? Nine?

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The Dukes of Kent eighty nine and Gloucester eighty one?

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They are very old now? Could they be allowed to

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put their feet up? Is there a succession plan? How

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would the show struggle on without them? Number ten Fergie

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Is there a register of interests somewhere? Could MPs see it?

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And democracy that cannot talk about its head of state

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is still partially enthralled to the old order. The monarchy

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may have Instagram accounts, transparency reports and diversity initiatives, but

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in the corridors of power, it remains a sacred cow, majestic, costly,

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and conspicuously beyond question. And there you have it. You'd

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like to email us addresses the Palace Intrigue at gmail

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Duchess Meghan Markle Sussex's Name Drama, her $28 Potato Chips, and a Lifestyle Brand No One Asked For

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