Meghan Markle says she and Prince Harry are experiencing a renewed “honeymoon period” as she rekindles her creative passions.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, the Duchess of Sussex, 43, shares that her husband is enjoying seeing her return to the entrepreneurial space with her lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard and her Netflix series, With Love, Meghan.

“My husband met me when I had The Tig, and I see this spark in his eye when he sees me doing the thing that I was doing when he first met me,” she says.

“It’s almost like a honeymoon period again,” she adds. “It’s exactly how it was in the beginning—when he’d watch me scribbling away, writing newsletters, fine-tuning edits, and really getting into the details. I think he loves watching as much as I love doing that creative process. It’s just been fun. This is who I’ve always been.”

Back in 2014, while starring in Suits in Toronto, Meghan launched The Tig—a lifestyle blog that shared her passions for food, travel, and wellness—long before the influencer era took off. But as her relationship with Prince Harry deepened, she closed the site in April 2017 and later deleted her personal Instagram as she transitioned into royal life.

Was it difficult to walk away? “Well, I loved The Tig, but I certainly love my husband more,” she says. “So that was a choice I made at the time, and I wouldn’t change that for a second.”

While Meghan pursues her creative ventures, the couple remains committed to their philanthropic efforts through the Archewell Foundation, with Harry, 40, continuing his charity work.

“I imagine that it’s the same as it would be for any couple,” she says. “You have your individual jobs, but then you have things that you share together.”

“We’ve been such a close team for so long that we’re just in it beat by beat with each other,” she continues. “And I love that. To be able to be a female founder and do that with my husband’s support means everything.”

Since their 2018 wedding, Meghan and Harry have built a life in Montecito, California, with their children, Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3.

Meghan describes Montecito as a safe and supportive community. “Once you know us, I think you want us to have the same normalcy as parents and for our children as they do, despite however unique our situation is,” she says.

That normalcy includes simple outings with Harry and friends.

“We go to a lot of dinners, and not just in people’s homes or private rooms; we just go into the restaurant,” she shares. “I really love that we can just have fun.”

A close friend tells PEOPLE, “They’re very gentle and attentive. There’s a sweetness to their family. You can see that as a unit, they’re all very connected.”

Their daily routine includes “day dates” with quiet lunches and evening “nightcap recaps,” where they relax with a drink while discussing their day and preparing their kids’ lunches.

“I think all parents in this phase with kids the same age know it’s rinse and repeat,” she says.

They also enjoy unwinding with their favorite TV shows. “We love Shrinking; we just finished Black Doves, and we’re excited for the new season of The White Lotus,” she says.

Recently, the couple leaned on each other after the loss of Meghan’s beloved rescue beagle, Guy, a familiar presence in her kitchen throughout her new series. The impact of the Los Angeles fires also led Meghan and Netflix to delay her show’s premiere—from January to March—to focus on more pressing matters.

“I’m glad that we [paused],” she says, “and could really focus our energies on the stuff that matters.” In the aftermath of the devastation, which left around 11,000 homes destroyed, Meghan and Harry traveled to L.A. to volunteer and even hosted displaced friends in Montecito.

“It will be a really long road to recovery,” she says. “It’s my home state, and I will continue my support in whatever way I can.”