Dropping the trailer for the latest installment of her Netflix series last week, fans expected to be salivating over not only Meghan Markle’s delicious home-cooking hacks, but over a guest list dripping with famous faces ready to make and bake with Monetcito’s new domestic duchess.

So when the trailer for the second series dropped on YouTube and teased just ONE celebrity, Meghan’s long-term pal, Chrissy Teigen, the clip received just over 3000 likes, while the ‘dislike’ button received so many clicks (over 32,000) that the channel decided to discreetly hide them.

A Hollywood insider said of the guest list last week, ‘It’s very underwhelming. It’s really down to Meghan to get the stars. Where is Oprah, Michelle Obama or a Kardashian, even? It is just a bunch of random people she knows’.

Not only that, but in the same week, Meghan, 44, was faced with yet another celebrity snub when Mariah Carey, who previously appeared on Meghan’s ill-fated ‘Archetypes’ podcast in 2022, claimed during an interview that the only ‘member of the Royal Family’ she had ever met was Sarah Ferguson.

‘Fergie [Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York], I thought she was cool,’ Mariah replied ahead of her performance at King Charles’ Sandringham Estate last week – another potential snub for estranged Meghan, who has not returned to the UK in three years.

And now a source tells Closer that Meghan had been desperately trying to woo over more celebrities to prove to Netflix that she still has the power to pull in big names, but that the reality of her dwindling popularity has been ‘devastating’ for the duchess, who fears the show will be a disaster.

The insider says, ‘When Meghan and Harry first set up in LA over five years ago, the idea of them trying to woo D-listers would have been totally unthinkable. Meghan was certain they’d be socialising with the cream of Hollywood for a long time to come – it didn’t enter her head that they’d find themselves scrambling for friends or celebrity advocates like this.

‘She went into this whole Hollywood journey with Harry convinced they’d be immediately at the top of the food chain, and hanging with people like the Obamas and the Clooneys, those types of respectable power players.

‘But that hasn’t happened. It’s been rejection after rejection and while she would never admit to it publicly it’s no secret that she’s devastated by it.’

Riding on the wave of their 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, during which the world heard Meghan and Harry’s take on the alleged bullying and isolation they experienced within the ‘firm’, the couple found themselves welcomed with open arms into the most exclusive Hollywood circles.

Their friends at the time included A-listers Oprah, Gayle King, Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom, the Obamas, Ellen DeGeneres and Portia Rossi, Gwyneth Paltrow and Cameron Diaz. Even Beyoncé also thanked Meghan for her ‘strength and leadership’.

However, when Meghan launched her new lifestyle brand last April, sending out 50 jars of homemade strawberry jam, the only high-profile celebrities who publicly supported her by posting on social media were Chrissy Teigen and Kris Jenner.

At the time, her first foray into podcasting had been the perfect opportunity for Meghan to show off her new celebrity entourage, interviewing guests such as Mariah, Serena Williams and Paris Hilton.

And in May we reported how Meghan was ‘making moves’ to reconnect with the likes of former First Lady, Michelle Obama, who she met first in 2018.

At the time the pair ‘spoke at length about supporting and empowering women’ and clearly made an impression on one another. The following year, Meghan interviewed Michelle as a guest editor at Vogue magazine, during which the Duchess described her new friend as ‘kind, inspirational, motivating’.

In March, Meghan also streamed a Zoom call with Gwyneth Paltrow, who later teased that she would be open to appearing on Meghan’s show.

But now the source said that Meghan has been left feeling ‘embarrassed’ that her expectations didn’t come to fruition when it came to crunch time.

The insider says, ‘She came in with these huge expectations and the harsh reality is she hasn’t been able to get traction with the A-list, so now she’s having to totally adjust her expectations and is turning to people who are just happy to be included.
‘That’s how she ended up having Chrissy Teigen appear on the show. Chrissy had this big public fall from grace over the 2011 online bullying scandal and that left her pretty radioactive, so it was an obvious yes for her.

‘And right now the truth is Meghan needs people around her who won’t say no. It’s got to be pretty embarrassing for her.’

They continue, ‘Meghan has milked her talent agency [WMA] for recommendations and hook ups but that’s only gotten her so far and now – as brutal as it sounds – she’s having to look at the next level down and scrape the barrel a little.’

Meghan’s fall from grace comes nearly six years since she and Harry stepped down as senior royals.

But while sharing their experiences of life and love behind-palace-walls had been the golden goose that catapulted them into the Hollywood elite and the good graces of Netflix, the public soon began to side with the Royal Family.

Following Queen Elizabeth II’S death in 2021, both King Charles and Kate Middleton were diagnosed with cancer last year and, naturally, Meghan and Harry’s tirade against them began to leave a very bitter taste.

However, with their new deal with Netflix set to leave them a lot less comfortably sitting on their pedestals as they are forced to create good content to be approved for their ‘first look’ contract – which means Netflix also have the right to turn down their ideas – the source says the couple are becoming increasingly ‘desperate’.

They tell us, ‘People are turning down Meghan’s invites or flat out ignoring her, as well as Harry, because they clearly don’t want to be tarnished by association. It’s really that simple, as well as the fact they’re commonly viewed these days as a pair of try-hards, which is not a good look because it makes them seem desperate
‘To be fair to Harry and Meghan they do have some friends to count on but very few of them are famous and that’s a big blow to their ego as well as their brand. They haven’t been photographed with a true A-lister in ages and that speaks volumes.’

Now the source says Meghan is being forced to face up to the reality of the situation and knows she has to lower her expectations for the time being.

The insider says, ‘She’s not given up on wooing the likes of Beyoncé, Jennifer Aniston, Eva Longoria and other like minded liberal A-list types but at the same time she’s being realistic.

‘She and Harry are trying to put a brave face on the whole thing, saying it doesn’t help that they live so far away from Hollywood in the relative wilderness of Montecito. But everyone knows they’re just deluding themselves with that excuse.

‘The truth is, no A-lister in their right mind would want to hitch their wagon to the Sussexes because there’s just way too much drama and baggage attached.’