Meghan Markle − sorry, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex − is back in the spotlight with her new homemaking reality show “With Love, Meghan” on Netflix.

Many people, however, wish that she wasn’t.

The reviews have been brutal. The Independent called the show “queasy and exhausting.” Vulture said it pioneers “new frontiers in unrelatability.” The Times columnist Carol Midgley insisted the show actually exceeds expectations of terribleness: “If you thought ‘With Love, Meghan,’ the Duchess of Sussex’s new lifestyle show, would be a smug, syrupy endurance watch, and that you would rather fry your eyeballs than sit through it, I have news for you. It is so much worse than that.” On Rotten Tomatoes, the shows sits at a measly 33% critics score and an even worse 20% audience score.

Not everyone hates “With Love, Meghan” though. Some X users seem to find it charming; others appreciate its meme-worthy moments. Despite the poor reviews, Netflix has already announced plans for another season.

Pop culture and psychology experts say there’s a lot to unpack with the “With Love, Meghan” backlash. After all, Meghan’s a polarizing public figure, and, no matter what she does, people will have strong feelings about it. Plus, after everything she’s been through, are we expecting too much from her when it comes to authenticity?

“We can be hypercritical, and we need to look at, ‘What is that doing to us, when we feel such a high level of judgment of other people?’ ” psychotherapist Stephanie Sarkis says. “It seems that whatever (Meghan) does, she’s going to be under a microscope.”

Duchess Meghan and her authenticity problem

If you follow pop culture, odds are you have strong feelings about Meghan.

Some love her; some hate her. Some consider her an inspiring trailblazer; others, a manipulator.

Because of this, the reactions to “With Love, Meghan” aren’t really about the show itself, says Rob Shuter, host of the podcast “Naughty But Nice with Rob Shuter” and a former celebrity publicist.

“This isn’t about what she’s doing,” he says. “It’s about her.”

“With Love, Meghan,” he says, suffers from the same image problem that’s plagued Meghan and her husband Prince Harry since they stepped down as senior royals in 2020, which is that they want to come off as authentic without actually letting their guards down.

For instance, in “With Love, Meghan,” the duchess acts as hostess to the couple’s famous friends; yet, the show isn’t even filmed at her Southern California home. It’s filmed at a nearby rental property.

“She doesn’t help herself,” Shuter says. “The fact that she’s shooting an at-home, entertaining lifestyle cooking show in a kitchen that isn’t her kitchen is a problem. The fact that they rented basically a set to do a show that’s all about the ‘authentic you’ is a problem, particularly if the visual is meant to give you her at home.”

This problem has surfaced in other areas of the couple’s life too, he says. For instance, when the couple parted ways with the royal family, they said they made the decision in the pursuit of privacy.

Now, Shuter says, royal watchers are struggling to square how a Spotify podcast and a Netflix series fit into that goal of privacy.

It doesn’t help, he adds, that when the couple does let their guard down, it comes off controlled and calculated.

“Meghan wanted this real, at-home feel, but yet wasn’t really willing to give us that product,” Shuter says. “This is the mistake she constantly, constantly makes. She lets us into her life, and then she pushes us out. So, the last two or three years, she’s been demanding privacy for her children, and, suddenly now they’re popping up on her social media account. So it feels to me as if Meghan, like a lot of people, wants it both ways.”

What the ‘With Love, Meghan’ hate says about us

In many ways, Meghan’s conflicting public image strategy is to be expected after everything she’s gone through. She’s weathered racist attacks in the press − and, she alleges, from within the royal family too. She’s shared that public scrutiny has driven her to contemplate suicide.

“There’s something very cautious about Meghan, and I get it,” Shuter says. “If I’d been through what she had been through and the amount of scrutiny and attention that she’s received, you’re going to be really careful about how you walk through life.”

Sarkis believes the criticism Meghan receives is largely overblown. After all, celebrities have done far worse things than put out a poorly reviewed lifestyle show; yet they don’t seem to draw nearly as much backlash.

“Why are we showing so much scrutiny on something that’s supposed to be a lifestyle show?” she says. “Why is there so much vitriol towards her? It seems like we have a different standard for her than we do for other well-known people, but we have to really look at why.”

Ultimately, Sarkis says, if you find that Meghan and her show have you particularly upset, it’s an opportunity for reflection. What is it about this show that bothers you so much?

Odds are, she says, the answer has more to do with you than it does with her.

“Why is this bothering me, and what can I do about it?” Sarkis recommends asking yourself. “Does this have to do with my own personal experiences? Does it have anything to do with how I feel? Does it have anything to do with maybe messages I’ve received throughout my life? Why do I possibly feel threatened by her doing well? What does this trigger in me, and do I need to take a look at possibly healing that?”