Meghan Markle warned she'll 'be axed by Netflix' if she doesn't win over viewers

Meghan Markle was warned by a royal expert that if she doesn’t win over viewers with her new Netflix show, she will risk being axed by the streaming giant.

The Duchess of Sussex’s new lifestyle series, With Love, Meghan, will air on March 4 after being postponed from January 15 due to the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles.

With Love, Meghan will consist of eight episodes and is thought to show the duchess sharing cooking, gardening, and hosting tips with her friends.

The show will likely coincide with the official launch of her lifestyle brand, As Ever, which has sparked backlash recently regarding its name and logo.

But a royal author said the latest reaction could make matters worse for the duchess, who is “bound to be just being attacked”.

Earlier this week Meghan announced that she has renamed her brand from American Riviera Orchard to As Ever and that the brand will launch this spring.

But her announcement was met with mixed reaction after internet sleuths spotted that As Ever is also the name of a small family business based in New York, while the duchess was blasted after her logo – a palm tree with two hummingbirds on each side – bore a striking similarity to a Spanish coat of arms.

Royal author Hugo Vickers stressed that many businesses have a rough start but the reaction to Meghan’s brand shows just how polarising she can be.

He told The Sun: “She’s bound to be just being attacked because people want to attack her, and maybe actually, they’re also jumping on the bandwagon.”

The author argued that this level of bad publicity won’t help the Duke and Duchess of Sussex when it comes to their Netflix deal, which is expected to end this year, with no updates regarding its renewal.

He said: “A company like Netflix wants value for money… they have to deliver.

“I suspect that if it doesn’t work, then it’ll get axed like everything else, because that’s what happens in the commercial world. You sink or swim. It’s a tough world out there.

“I think in the end you have to come up with substance, and it’ll be interesting to see what sort of substance is produced by this programme.”

But he praised her for “branching out” and “reinventing herself” after she stepped down as a senior working royal in 2020.

He said: “So you know, to be fair to her, she’s starting to branch out in a new direction.

It’s reinventing herself. And that’s what people do, and that’s in a way, I suppose what you have to do if you’re going to be a celebrity.”