Meghan Markle's Netflix Show Delayed Due to LA Fires

Meghan Markle, who was born in Los Angeles, lives with her husband Prince Harry in Montecito, a swanky coastal enclave some 100 miles northwest of the city. SUZANNE CORDEIRO / AFP/File
Meghan Markle, who was born in Los Angeles, lives with her husband Prince Harry in Montecito, a swanky coastal enclave some 100 miles northwest of the city. SUZANNE CORDEIRO / AFP/File
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Meghan Markle's Netflix Show Delayed Due to LA Fires

Meghan Markle, who was born in Los Angeles, lives with her husband Prince Harry in Montecito, a swanky coastal enclave some 100 miles northwest of the city. SUZANNE CORDEIRO / AFP/File
Meghan Markle, who was born in Los Angeles, lives with her husband Prince Harry in Montecito, a swanky coastal enclave some 100 miles northwest of the city. SUZANNE CORDEIRO / AFP/File

A new Netflix series starring Meghan Markle, the actress wife of Britain's Prince Harry, has been delayed due to the devastating Los Angeles wildfires, the Duchess of Sussex said Sunday.
"With Love, Meghan," an eight-episode lifestyle and cooking show, had been due to debut on the streaming platform on Wednesday.
But with blazes that have killed at least 16 people still burning across Los Angeles, and thousands of homes destroyed, it has been pushed back to March, AFP said.
"I'm thankful to my partners at Netflix for supporting me in delaying the launch, as we focus on the needs of those impacted by the wildfires in my home state of California," Markle said in a statement.
Markle, who was born in Los Angeles, lives with Harry in Montecito, a swanky coastal enclave some 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of the city.
A Netflix statement called the show a "heartfelt tribute to the beauty of Southern California."
The delay was made at "the request of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and with the full support of Netflix.... due to the ongoing devastation caused by the Los Angeles wildfires," it said.
Last week, Harry and Meghan were seen in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena, comforting survivors of the fire.
They also issued a statement urging Californians to open their homes to evacuees.
"If a friend, loved one or pet has to evacuate and you are able to offer them a safe haven in your home, please do," said a statement posted to their official website.
A publicist did not respond to AFP request for comment on whether the couple had personally hosted any evacuees.
But a report in Britain's Telegraph said they were sheltering "friends and loved ones who have been displaced by the wildfires."
The pair had also donated "clothing, children's items and other essential supplies," it said.
A trailer for "With Love, Meghan" previewed the "Suits" star sharing tips on cooking, gardening, crafting, flower arranging and hosting.
Guests will include celebrated chef Alice Waters, actress Mindy Kaling and close friend Abigail Spencer, one of Markle's "Suits" co-stars. Harry appears briefly in the trailer.
Since stepping away from their official royal duties in early 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been cut off from the royal purse, forcing them to develop their own sources of income.
Their partnership with Netflix yielded the much-talked-about "Harry & Meghan," a six-episode docuseries launched in December 2022.
In March 2024, Meghan launched the lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard.



Raspy-voiced Hit Machine Rod Stewart Turns 80

Singer Rod Stewart, with his distinctive spiky blond hair and raspy voice, dominated pop charts during the 1970s and 1980s. Kirsty Wigglesworth / POOL/AFP/File
Singer Rod Stewart, with his distinctive spiky blond hair and raspy voice, dominated pop charts during the 1970s and 1980s. Kirsty Wigglesworth / POOL/AFP/File
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Raspy-voiced Hit Machine Rod Stewart Turns 80

Singer Rod Stewart, with his distinctive spiky blond hair and raspy voice, dominated pop charts during the 1970s and 1980s. Kirsty Wigglesworth / POOL/AFP/File
Singer Rod Stewart, with his distinctive spiky blond hair and raspy voice, dominated pop charts during the 1970s and 1980s. Kirsty Wigglesworth / POOL/AFP/File

Singer Rod Stewart, who helped British rock conquer the world with a string of megahits, turns 80 on Friday -- with no plans to slow down.
Stewart, with his distinctive spiky blond hair and raspy voice, dominated pop charts during the 1970s and 1980s with hits like "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" and "Young Turks", notching up more than 250 million record sales worldwide.
He also made headlines for a prolific love life that included relationships with a string of models and actresses including Britt Ekland.
Despite his landmark birthday, Stewart says he has no plans to retire.
"I love what I do, and I do what I love. I'm fit, have a full head of hair and can run 100 meters (330 feet) in 18 seconds at the jolly old age of 79," he wrote last year.
The star will play the legends slot at the famed Glastonbury music festival this summer.
Although his forthcoming European and North American tour dates will be his last large-scale project, he has said he plans to concentrate on more intimate venues in the future.
He will headline a new residency in Las Vegas from March to June.
A tour is also slated for 2026 for Swing Fever, the album he released last year with pianist and ex-Squeeze band member Jools Holland.
As he has approached his ninth decade, Stewart has also made headlines for quirkier reasons such as his passion for model railways and his battle with potholes that have prevented him from driving his Ferrari near his home in eastern England.
The singer, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 2016, has been married three times and has fathered eight children. His third wife is model and television personality Penny Lancaster.
From London to global star
Stewart's story began in north London on 10 January 1945, when Roderick Stewart was born into a middle-class family.
After a "fantastically happy childhood", he developed a love of music when his father bought him a guitar in 1959, and he formed a skiffle band with school friends a year later.
He joined the band Dimensions in 1963 as a harmonica player, exploring his love of folk, blues and soul music while learning from other artists such as Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger in London's blossoming rhythm and blues scene.
Stewart's career took off in 1967 when he joined the renowned guitarist Jeff Beck's eponymous new band, which also included future Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, allowing him to develop his raw and soulful vocal style and stagecraft while exposing him to a US audience.
He and Wood took up the offer to join mod pioneers Small Faces following the departure of their singer Steve Marriott in 1969 -- the band soon changing its name to The Faces -- shortly before Stewart released his debut solo album.
It was his 1971 third solo release, "Every Picture Tells a Story", that confirmed him as one of the world's most successful artists, reaching number one in Britain, Australia and the United States, where it went platinum.
The album helped define Stewart's rock/folk sound, featuring heartfelt lyrics and heavy use of unusual instruments such as the mandolin, particularly prominent on the album's standout hit "Maggie May".
"I just love stories with a beginning, middle and end," he once said.
'I had the last laugh'
Focusing on his solo career after 1975, Stewart's "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" released in 1978 was not to everyone's taste.
"Once the most compassionate presence in music, he has become a bilious self-parody -– and sells more records than ever," Rolling Stone magazine said in 1980.
Never one to be cowed by the critics, Stewart defended this phase, telling an interviewer that audiences "absolutely love it, so I had the last laugh".
Richard Houghton, author of the book "Tell Everyone -- A People's History of the Faces" said that Stewart had "possibly the most distinctive voice in rock music".
The singer had successfully combined writing classic songs of his own such as "Maggie May" or "You Wear It Well" with taking other people's songs -- from Bob Dylan to Tom Waits -- and making them his own .
More recently, there had been four albums of the "classic songs of the 1930s from his Great American Songbook catalogue".
Houghton said audiences could expect to see plenty more of Stewart.
"He's like any entertainer. He loves the spotlight. He's not going to sit at home watching the television when somewhere around the world there's a crowd wanting to hear him sing 'Mandolin Wind' or 'First Cut Is The Deepest' one more time.
"Rod will keep singing until the day he drops," he added.