Meghan Markle has been branded a “grandma” by one of her celebrity friends after an awkward admission on the second season of her Netflix series With Love, Meghan. The Duchess of Sussex, 44, sat down with Queer Eye star Tan France when the conversation turned to what she missed most about her years in Britain. Meghan replied: “Honestly one of the things I miss the most about the UK is the radio station Magic FM.”
France, 42, was quick to rib his friend, quipping: “Magic FM. Wow! Sorry to say this to you publicly, but that’s such a grandma station.”
Unfazed, Meghan laughed off the jibe: “I’ll be that grandma.”
The exchange has gone viral, with social media users piling on to mock the Duchess for her surprising choice of station. Magic FM, launched in 1990 as Melody FM, has long been associated with easy listening and soft rock.
Once famous for its tagline “more of the songs you love”, it has since rebranded as Magic Radio with a fresher playlist ranging from the 1980s through to the 2010s. Presenters include Gok Wan, Harriett Scott, Mel Giedroyc and Gaby Roslin.
Meghan told viewers she now listens to a US station called “Mom Jeans,” which plays a mix of soft and classic rock.
The light-hearted moment came during an episode in which Meghan and France discussed the difficulties of parenting while juggling careers.
The Duchess admitted that being away from her children was the hardest part of her schedule.
“The longest I went without being around our kids was almost three weeks,” she said. “I was… not well.”
But the playful radio confession has overshadowed much of the series’ publicity, not least because With Love, Meghan has once again failed to win over the critics.
The Telegraph dismissed it as “more tone-deafness from the Montecito Marie Antoinette”, while The Guardian branded it “so boring, so contrived, so effortfully whimsical that it does become almost fascinating.”
The series, which sees Meghan invite celebrity guests such as Chrissy Teigen, Jay Shetty, Samin Nosrat and David Chang to cook, chat and share lifestyle tips, has also raised eyebrows for the conspicuous absence of Prince Harry.
In a separate promotional interview with Bloomberg’s The Circuit With Emily Chang, Meghan reflected on her time as a working royal, recalling how she “had to wear nude pantyhose all the time” and felt unable to be as “vocal” as she is now.
