Archive December 6, 2025

After mixed reviews for her Netflix Christmas episode of With Love, the Duchess of Sussex is struggling to match Kate’s magic, an expert tells us

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The Duchess of Sussex and the Princess of Wales have both kicked off the Christmas season in style, and a royal expert tells the Mirror the rivalry between the pair is still alive and well. Last week, Meghan delivered the festive special of her Meghan, With Love Netflix series just a few days before Kate hosted her star-studded Together at Christmas carol concert at Westminster Abbey.

Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams says the two events could not have been more different and he suspects Meghan, 44, may now retire her lifestyle show altogether. “Meghan is secretly battling to emulate some of the magic that Kate clearly creates, but it is not working,” he told us.

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He continued, “She displayed almost relentless positivity, which actually becomes weary to watch. It seems that she’d like to be a sort of Californian Mary Poppins, practically perfect in every way, and therefore her show just does not have the same level of substance as Kate’s carol concert.”

The format of Meghan’s Holiday Celebration followed her earlier shows, with cooking demonstrations, DIY tutorials for wreath making, the odd cameo from husband Prince Harry and a few celebrity friends such as tennis ace Naomi Osaka.

The show landed in Netflix’s Top 10 TV Shows in the UK within 24 hours of airing, but critics were less than impressed. The mostly one or two-star reviews in British newspapers described it as “bizarre” and one reviewer said it was “quite mad and a little bit sad”.

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Not everyone agreed though, and many viewers took to social media to show their support. Writing on X, one said it “lifted their spirits” and another wrote they loved the “charming show”.

However, Richard suspects it is the last we’ll see of the series, and Meghan and Harry will have to bring something big to the table if they want to keep Netflix on side.

“The trouble is that in the position she is in with their downgraded Netflix deal, which isn’t an unusual position to be in, she needed a big name,” he told us. “While Naomi Osaka is very big in her field, there will be many people who didn’t know who she was. So if viewers are Googling the names of her guests, it’s not looking particularly good for their future with Netflix, so this may well be the last episode we get of the series.”

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The episode also added to the list of so-called diary clashes between the Sussexes and the royal family, airing on the same day as King Charles and Queen Camilla hosted the German state visit, and a few hours after Kate released a personal letter to guests attending the carol concert.

In it, Kate talked about Christmas being a time that “speaks of love taking form in the simplest most human ways” and “invites us to remember the power of reaching out to one another with generosity of heart, understanding and hope”.

Her service included readings by Prince William and Titanic actress Kate Winslet, along with musical performances by Katie Melua and Griff.

Richard says there is a widespread belief that Meghan still feels “rivalry” with Kate, 43, which dates back to their time as the Fab Four with princes Harry and William.

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The result, he claims, has been a number of diary clashes over the years, including Megxit being announced on the eve of Kate’s 38th birthday in 2020, and Harry publishing the paperback of his explosive memoir Spare while his father and mother-in-law were on a royal tour of Australia.

“If we look at the timings of many of the things the Sussexes have done, there is often a clash with William and Kate,” Richard said. “Recently, for example, there was Harry’s visit to Canada at the same time as William’s Earthshot trip.

“Harry reportedly made an offer to share diaries earlier this year to avoid clashes, but if the offer was accepted, nothing appears to have come from it.”

A day after Meghan’s show aired, there were reports that her estranged father, Thomas Markle Sr, was in intensive care in a hospital in the Philippines, where he lives.

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The 81-year-old has battled poor health for some years, and his son Thomas Jr told a newspaper last week he was “fighting for his life” after emergency surgery. Meghan’s dad is also reported to have had a leg amputated.

While Meghan’s festive special was likely filmed months ago, Robert says the unfortunate timing of its release has done her no favours.

“It is a decidedly dysfunctional situation to have Meghan on television talking about love and family while her father is said to be fighting for his life in hospital,” he said.

“I don’t imagine it has been received in the way Meghan would have hoped, so she and Harry will need to think very carefully about what they do next.”

Pretty Little Liars actress Shay Mitchell has faced a backlash after she launched a beauty brand aimed at children aged three and above

With 35 million Instagram followers, Shay Mitchell’s latest business venture was likely to be a huge success. However, her latest project – a beauty brand for toddlers – has been hit with fierce criticism.

A Hollywood star with a lot of influence, Pretty Little Liars actress Shay – who played Emily in the mystery thriller drama series – and Esther Song have created rini, a beauty brand they claim marries gentle skin care and play for children aged three and above.

A mum herself, Shay, 38, – who has daughters Atlas Noa, six, and Rome, three – says she was inspired to create her new range by her children’s constant requests to be involved in her beauty routine. When she wore face masks, they’d ask what it was and beg to use it and she would hand them deodorant with a lid on just so they could be part of her routine.

It was from here that rini was born – with Shay adamant she wants her kids to enjoy skincare like she does to “create healthy habits and have that self-care time”. They write on their website: “Our mission is simple: to nurture healthy habits and spark confidence”.

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The new brand sells everyday facial sheet masks with Vitamin E made to look like pandas, puppies and unicorns. Made with 93.5% natural ingredients, they contain Glycerin, Beta-Glucan and Allantoin to hydrate, strength and soothe and also feature White Tremella Mushrooms, which holds up to 500 times its weight in water to hydrate and calm the skin.

The second range of products are hydrogel masks, which include Vitamin B12, Glycerin & Red Algae Extract. The hydrogel mask is also infused with Vitamin B12 and costs £6 each, marketed for daily use. The after sun mask is infused with Aloe Vera and Chamomile as well as Wild Yam, which is said to “calm, heal, and hydrate delicate skin in harmony”.

The products might have been approved by dermatologists and clinically tested in the US, but the controversial brand has not sat well with celebrities and fans alike. Vicky Pattison – Strictly Come Dancing star – branded it all a “step too far”.

Speaking on a recent podcast she said, “I think it’s manipulative to position it as self care for kids. For me, an hour in the bath at the end of a busy day with a face mask on, that is my self care, but why does a three-year-old need that self care? They don’t. Their lives are, as they should be, care free.”

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She says parents should be the one to shield their kids from these expectations. Vicky added: “It’s up to the parents to set those boundaries and to say, ‘This is something for when you’re older. It’s just for me now. I think we’re blurring the lines there. I personally think it’s all a little bit dark and a bit of a shame. Let kids be kids.”

This is a view shared by many people online, who have called the new business venture “tone deaf” and “harming”. Dr Ranj Singh – a doctor who has regularly appeared on This Morning – dubbed the sheet and hydrogels masks an “awful idea”.

Speaking exclusively to The Mirror about the brand’s products, he says: “Children and young people have a generally healthy, developing and sensitive skin barrier. So when it comes to any skincare, as a general rule, less is more.

“Unless they have specific medical needs, they simply don’t need active skin products – simple washes and moisturisers (if necessary) are absolutely fine for the vast majority. And any reputable Dermatologist would agree with this. I’d like to think that most of these brands are genuinely looking out for children’s bests interests, but we also need to remember that they are businesses.”

He fears products like these can have a wider impact on children into the future and said: “We have to be mindful that, even with the best intentions in the world, these products may be sending the wrong message to young people from an early age: that somehow their skin is not good enough, that they have to obsess over their appearance, or that they need these products to look or feel good.

“This is simply not the case – and we must make clear that behaviour adults might show are not always applicable to children. When it comes to kids’ skin, the emphasis should be on looking after yourself from the inside – not what the world sees or what you might do on the outside.”

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