Smiling in a straw hat, the Duchess of Sussex looks the very picture of rustic bliss. So much so that, if you’re a fan of Pamela Anderson, it all looks a little too familiar...

For Meghan has been accused of ‘copying’ the former Baywatch legend with her make-or-break new cooking show, following a bizarre interview.

Prince Harry’s wife gave People magazine some of her top domestic tips ahead of the release of With Love, Meghan, which starts streaming on Netflix today.

These included how to ‘elevate’ a normal dinner – such as after ordering a takeaway, for example. 

Citing Chinese as a favourite delivery option, Meghan told the US magazine: ‘I like being able to do a hybrid, but even when I get a takeout I will try to plate it beautifully.’

And discussing her new trademark As Ever – after she failed to secure copyright branding for her original name, American Riviera Orchard – she insisted: ‘It’s a learning curve. I appreciate everyone who gave me the grace to make mistakes and figure it out and also be forgiving with myself through that.’

Less forgiving, however, are the Pamela Anderson fans who claim Meghan’s series is a ‘virtual rip-off’ of her show, Pamela’s Cooking With Love, which premiered last week.

Indeed, it’s not just the titles that are eerily similar. The two former TV stars live more than a thousand miles apart, yet both are smiling and giggling in brightly lit country kitchens, filming aspirational cooking with photogenic friends and famous chefs.

Both are seen carrying wicker baskets of fruit and vegetables picked from their gardens, dancing with joy, and gleefully high-fiving their celebrity guests. Both series are even the same length: eight episodes.

More charitable observers might put this down to coincidence, as neither show seems to deviate from the wholesome template of many an aspirational cookery programme.

But there is just one problem for Meghan. While she filmed her series last summer, with the first trailer making its debut in January, Pamela’s was commissioned back in February 2023 by Canadian broadcaster Flavour Network. And its trailer has been available for all to see since last October.

Jesse Fawcett, the co-creator, co-writer and executive producer of Pamela’s series, shrugs off concerns about the similarities. ‘We take pride in planting the first seeds – creating original, distinctive programming that audiences love – and it’s a compliment to see our work with Ms Anderson resonate so strongly,’ he tells the Mail.

But Pamela’s fans are not quite so polite. When her first episode was shown last Monday, it prompted withering complaints that Meghan had copied Pamela’s winning formula.

‘So similar it’s freaky,’ said one reviewer, while others branded Meghan’s series ‘inauthentic’ and ‘copycat’.

Watching the competing trailers, viewers might be grateful that Pamela is blonde and Meghan a brunette – so they can tell the two shows apart. ‘I love to cook,’ Pamela tells the camera. ‘I just have always wanted to take things to another level.’

Meghan, in her show, expresses an almost identical sentiment: ‘I’ve always loved taking something pretty ordinary and elevating it.’ Pamela, 57, uses local honey in her recipes while Meghan, 43, tends beehives.

Both women scoop homemade ice cream into decorative glass bowls, sieve fine flour and arrange glistening salads.

Of course, they both have gorgeous country kitchens. Canadian-born Pamela filmed at her own $5million six-acre property on Vancouver Island.

Meghan opted to rent a house close to the $14.5million, 16-bathroom mansion she shares with Prince Harry and their children in California.

Pamela talks about ‘learning a lot’ while the duchess admits she is ‘just learning’.

Meanwhile, Netflix insiders claim that executives such as the streaming giant’s founder Ted Sarandos are only interested in the bottom line.

A source who knows Pamela says: ‘With Pam, what you see is what you get. Meghan’s problem has always been that she flip-flops. One day she’s an empowered feminist speaking to the United Nations, then, in her show, she’s a breathy homemaker content to be in the kitchen.’