When Meghan Markle released her first cookery show earlier this year, she promised to ‘elevate the ordinary’ with a series of culinary tips inspired by her experiments in her Montecito mansion.
Instead, theDuchess of Sussex, 44, left viewers scratching their heads with a series of ‘lacklustre’ recipes, unorthodox methods, and a pasta dish that sparked fury amongst Italians.
Her more recent forays in the kitchen have fared no better, with a photoshoot for her lifestyle website, As Ever, this week attracting swathes of criticism online for an apparent gaffe with a piece of jam making equipment.
Meghan’s passion for homemaking dates back years to her beloved lifestyle blog The Tig, which she closed down upon meeting Prince Harry and joining the royal family.
But her enthusiasm – which has led to a lifestyle website, cooking TV show and her own range of products – has not made her immune to kitchen mishaps.
Jameson Stocks – who was once appointed by Marco Pierre Whiteas Britain’s next culinary star – even declared in May that the Duchess ‘can’t cook’ and that she should ‘go back to acting’.
And Michael Steed, the director of With Love, Meghan, admitted that, while the Duchess has a clear ‘love of cooking’, she’s ‘not a chef’.
From being criticised for putting together an ‘unrealistic’ rainbow fruit platter to even being told that she’s using a knife wrong, it’s clear that Meghan’s time in the kitchen has been far from smooth sailing.
Holding her jam tongs ‘upside down’
Meghan Markle has left royal fans baffled after they noticed that she appeared to be holding her jam equipment upside down in new photographs
Meghan appeared to be holding the curved end of the lifter – which is specially shaped for lifting jars – instead of the black rubber handles. Stock image displaying correct use of the lifter
The latest blunder to have reached the headlines involved the former royal awkwardly clutching a pair of tongs.
Over the weekend, Meghan quietly launched new products on her lifestyle website As Ever, including a Sauvignon Blanc white wine and new stock of her apricot spread and orange marmalade.
To accompany the new launch, Meghan shared new photographs of herself posing candidly in the kitchen of her Montecito mansion inCalifornia, using canning equipment to pull a jar of jam out of a large saucepan on the stove.
Meghan’s pricey jams are said to be ‘inspired by the recipe she crafted in her home kitchen’, as per her website.
But eagle-eyed fans were quick to pointed out the Meghanappeared to be holding her equipment ‘upside down’.
In one photo, the Duchess appeared to be holding the curved end of the lifter – which is specially shaped for lifting jars – instead of the black rubber handles.
Several royal fans claimed that Meghan’s use of the clamp implied inexperience in the world of jam-making – despite the Duchess previously declaring that ‘jam is my jam’ and releasing her raspberry spread as her first ever product.
One person noted: ‘You’d SO use the back burner and hold the clamp upside down.’ Others said: ‘Here’s Meghan acting like she personally cans all the jars at her home. How authentic’;
‘Must be her first time, I did the same thing and was corrected by my mother.’
Jar tongs are traditionally used to safely lift hot jars and cans from boiling water, especially when canning jars at home.
For Meghan, therefore, whose As Ever jams are said to be ‘inspired by the recipe crafted in her home kitchen’, they would be an essential piece of equipment.
Baffling fans with her ‘skillet spaghetti’
Pasta disaster? Meghan showed off her ‘skillet spaghetti ‘to her best friend and celebrity make-up artist Daniel Martin in season one of her cooking show back in March
Meghan, who at one point called spaghetti ‘noodles’, prepped the dish on the £15,000 cooker in the reality TV house where her show was filmed
Her long-awaited cooking show, With Love, Meghan, was similarly met by a wave of winces as viewers struggle to get their heads around some of the Duchesses bizarre recipes and often unorthodox approach.
In the first episode, featuring her close friend, make-up artist Daniel Martin, Meghan is seentackling a dish called ‘skillet spaghetti,’ which she tells viewers she regularly cooks for Prince Harry and their children, Archie, five and Lilibet, three.
While there was no expense spared in the utensils, which included a pricey Le Creuset dish, beloved of the middle classes on both sides of the Pond, and a cooker that’s thought to have cost a real pretty penny, Italian’s were left shaking in their boots by the end of the scene.
While traditional methods usually seepasta submerged in a large pan of salted boiling water, Meghan’s approach deviated from themodus operandi as she was seem simply pouring ‘three’ cups’ of boiling water into the spaghetti.
Furious pasta purists flocked the comments with a combination of shock and disgust.’Netflix paid a lot of money just to let us know Meghan Markle doesn’t know how to cook pasta,’ one person snarked.
‘The pasta looks fine in the end, but I think Italians screamed at their TVs when she poured water into the sauce,’ someone else observed.
The recipe sparked no end of frustration from viewers, who were similarly perturbed by the Americanisation of Italian ingredients.
Rather than calling spaghetti by its name – or simply pasta – she controversially referred to it as ‘noodles’, later adding fuel to the flame by pronouncing Parmigiana in the American way as’Parmigian’.
Meghan’s awkward knife skills
Taking to X, one shared a snap of the Duchess chopping away at some produce. ‘Why is Meghan Markle holding the knife like that,’ they questioned. ‘This woman hasn’t cooked much has she?’
Fans were left questioning how much ‘cooking’ the Duchess of Sussex has done after the first season of her Netflix show aired in March.
In particular, many viewers were baffled at how the wife of Prince Harryhandled a popular kitchen utensil – a knife.
Taking to X, one shared a snap of the Duchess chopping away at some produce.
‘Why is Meghan Markle holding the knife like that,’ they questioned. ‘This woman hasn’t cooked much has she?’
Backlash started as far back as January, when the trailer for the show first dropped.
One Redditer hit out: ‘So we’re supposed to learn cooking ‘tips and tricks’ from someone who doesn’t even hold a chef’s knife properly?’
‘I took an intro cooking class as a teenager and the first thing they taught us was how to hold a knife properly,’ they continued.
‘Bon Appetit, America’s Test Kitchen, LeCordon Bleu etc all have videos or articles dedicated on correct knife handling and not one shows this grip.’
‘Those who really cook have a body language that just says I have a command of the kitchen,’ another agreed. ‘She does not have that vibe.’
A YouTube video on the Le Cordon Bleu YouTube Channel demonstrates how to properly use a chef’s knife, and the different techniques you can use.
The way Meghan handles hers – with the index finger along the spine – is however branded as ‘not acceptable’.
‘This is not stable,’Chef Jon-Paul Hutchins warned. ‘The other problem is, the strength in your arm ends up stressing the tendons in the back of your hand.
‘So when you’re cutting initially, it won’t hurt. But when you’re doing it for hours, all of the sudden you’re going to notice a lot of wrist fatigue.’
Speaking to the Royale, Michelin star chef Tom Shepherd – who is the founder of Two Fold Spirits – admitted the Duchess’s knife skills ‘leave a lot to be desired’.
‘In the clips, she holds the knife awkwardly, with her fingers too far back on the handle,’ he revealed.
‘This reduces control and makes cutting both less precise and more difficult. She also appears to be using the wrong type of knife for the task, which can make the process inefficient and even dangerous.
‘A proper grip is key – placing the thumb and index finger on the blade near the handle (a pinch grip) offers much better control.
‘Choosing the right knife is also crucial; a chef’s knife is best for chopping, slicing, and dicing, while a paring knife is better for smaller, delicate tasks. Instead of lifting the knife completely off the board, she should use a smooth rocking motion to cut evenly and efficiently.’
‘Unhygenic’ chicken storage
Netflix viewers were also left ‘disgusted’ by Meghan’s chicken storage in her Netflix show – but a closer look brought their criticisms into question
The scene was first shared online by X user @lillyinlondon
Netflix viewers were also left ‘disgusted’ by Meghan’s chicken storage in her Netflix show – but a closer look brought their criticisms into question.
People were left unimpressed after they noticed the ‘unhygienic’ way Meghan apparently stored ‘raw’ chicken in the third episode of season one, featuring celebrated Korean-American chef Roy Choi.
In it, Choi – best known for his gourmet Korean-Mexican taco truck Kogi – and the former Suits actress bonded over a shared love of ‘karaoke and dancing’ in Koreatown while preparing a hearty meal of Korean fried chicken.
At one point, the mother-of-two opened the fridge to reveal a row of what viewers believed were raw chicken legs lying on a shelf, right next to salad leaves, as viewers questioned why the poultry wasn’t covered or stored separately in a container in comments on X/Twitter.
The scene was first shared online by X user @lillyinlondon, who captioned the clip: ‘Why has #MeghanMarkle [kept] raw chicken legs in the fridge next to the salad?’
The post quickly racked up nearly 200 comments as several people expressed their distaste for the way Meghan had lined the chicken legs up inside the fridge.
One X user’s reply read: ‘I believe Chef Gordon Ramsay would call that cross contamination.’
Another added: ‘Why aren’t they covered? They probably stink up the whole fridge.’
A third quipped: ‘Hello salmonella, my old friend’
One viewer added it was ‘disgusting’ that the meat was ‘just sitting on the glass shelf’ while another said: ‘Oh damn. This reiterates what we all know. She knows NOTHING about food prep.
‘Wow, salmonella with your snacks, anyone?’
Yet another X user dubbed the fridge ‘salmonella central’ while referring to the salmonella bacteria thatlive in the gut of farm animals and is shed through their stool.
It is most common in raw meat, poultry, seafood and eggs because the cooking process kills off the bugs. Faeces may get onto raw meat and poultry during the butchering process, while seafood may be contaminated if harvested from contaminated water.
Reacting to the perceived faux-pas, one social media user shared: ‘Yikes! Everything is contaminated by raw chicken! Who does that?! Glad I’ll never have to eat dinner at her house.’
However, as the episode progressed, it was revealed the chicken legs had been parboiled or partially cooked in water and were placed on a tray.
‘Insect’ by her shortbread cookies
Eagle-eyed royal fans claimed to spot an ‘insect’ scuttling around near Meghan’s shortbread cookies in a video she shared to Instagram in August
As well as cooking, Meghan has also shown her love of baking, especially since returning to Instagram in January.
She has made jam thumbprint cookies with her children Prince Archie, six, and Princess Lilibet, four, and heart-shaped red bagels for Valentine’s Day.
In August, she shared a video of her shortbread cookieswith jam and flower sprinkles alongside sprigs of foliage.
But as eagle-eyed royal fans shared the clip to social media, they soon noticed what appeared to be a tiny insect crawling around near a flower cookie at the bottom of the plate.
The bug could be seen moving around the biscuits for a few seconds, before disappearing from view.
One person wrote on X/Twitter: ‘There’s literally a BUG crawling around on the plate! You think Meghan would notice this BEFORE posting!’
Another added: ‘Ewwww! I see it.’
A third said: ‘OMG…there IS a bug! I had to look really hard but it is definitely there!’ while a fourth noted: ‘Oh my god there is a creepy crawly on the plate.’
Others noted that while insects are to be expected when eating outside in the summer, especially with homemade goods, it was more surprising that it could still be spotted in the Instagram brand photos.
One person said: ‘When I serve biscuits in the garden, something like that can happen quickly. But when I’m filming to publish, I check every little detail.’
Another added: ‘It most likely came from the greenery she elevated the table with.’
Scrambled egg ‘hack’
Meghan told chef Roy Choi about adding sparkling water to scrambled eggs to make them ‘fluffy’
The first season of Meghan’s Netflix show saw the Duchess tell her friend, Korean-American chef Roy Choi, that she adds sparkling water to scrambled eggs in order to make them ‘fluffy’.
The revelation came as they cooked fried chicken together, with Meghan asking: ‘Does the sparkling water just help make the batter extra crisp?’, with Choi confirming, ‘yes, exactly’.
The former royal was then keen to share a similar tip of her own.
She said: ‘Do you ever put cold sparkling water in your eggs before you scramble them?
‘Same sort of effect – helps them rise, get a little fluffy, it’s great. Just a tiny little splash.’
However, the move quickly divided fans, with one person even branding it ‘ridiculous’.
One person wrote: ‘Do you ever just put cold sparkling water in your scrambled eggs’. Not even the King of England’s Chef thinks that way.’
Another added: ‘Who puts water in their scrambled eggs?’
However, one person said: ‘Adding soda water (doesn’t need to be cold though) to eggs and scrambling is the best, so she’s right on that, been doing it for years.’
Food blogs have long recommended the trick, as whisking the eggs adds air into the mixture, and carbonated water amplifies the effect.
William Dissen, a chef at the Market Place in North Carolina, previously used the technique in a cooking video, explaining: ‘When the water and the eggs hit the pan those little sparkling water bubbles expand and it really makes the fluffiest, lightest eggs.’
Peanut butter pretzels ‘recipe’
Meghan caused viewers to roll their eyes at her cookery skills after repackaging supermarket pretzels into her own labelled bag (pictured)
In one scene, Meghan teared open a pre-packaged bag of supermarket pretzels, transferring them into her own plastic bag
Meghan caused viewers to roll their eyes at her cookery skills after repackaging supermarket pretzels into her own labelled bag for a guest during another episode of her cooking show.
In one scene,Meghan teared open a pre-packaged bag of supermarket pretzels, transferring them into her own plastic bag, and carefully securing it with a neat string bow.
Viewers described the moment as an ‘unintended comic gem’ as they laughed at her somewhat unoriginal solution for providing her guests with something to snack on.
During the cooking show, the former actress said she always liked to ensure her guests are provided with a late-night nibble, before sharing her recipe for microwaved truffle popcorn and re-packaged pretzels.
‘This, we’re just going to put into a different bag,’ she said slyly, with fans spotting the recognisable Trader Joe packaging of the peanut butter flavoured snacks, which Meghan said she’d be ‘eating forever’.
After pouring the pre-made snacks into her own bag, the duchess made sure to label the bag as containing peanuts – though she acknowledged she already knew her friend didn’t suffer from a nut allergy.
‘I know that Daniel loves peanut butter but I’m going to label this anyway, you always want to be conscious if someone has a nut allergy,’ she said.
Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, one humoured viewer wrote: ‘With love Meghan Episode one. Take out pretzels from one plastic bag and put them into another plastic bag, but don’t forget to add a bow.’
A second said: ‘Meghan Markle opens a bag of peanut-butter pretzels and empties them into a plastic bag.. This is the IDIOT who thought she could modernise the monarchy. The jokes write themselves.’
A third complained: ‘So Meghan’s cooking show disaster is full of unintended comic gems. Particular favourites are her opening a bag of pretzels and putting them in another plastic bag… and best of all correcting her friend saying that her family name is Sussex!’
‘Meghan Markle at-home entertainment 101 — in a home that isn’t even her own. Take a bag of Trader Joe’s peanut butter pretzel nuggets, transfer them into another plastic bag and seal it shut with a rustic twine bow for cute guest snacks. Not even nine minutes into episode one,’ a fourth mused.
Another joked: ‘I’m so glad Meghan Markle has a new show on Netflix where I can watch her take pretzels out of a labeled bag and put them into a new bag…then label it. The people’s Martha Stewart.’
‘Unrealistic’ fruit platter
Meghan Markle (pictured) said it’s a ‘real delight and luxury’ to be a ‘present parent’ while making a rainbow-themed fruit salad in a new sneak peek of her Netflix series ahead of its release tomorrow
Speaking in her with lifestyle show, Meghan revealed she makes platters to ‘make the morning more fun’.
Meghan Markle has said it’sa ‘real delight and luxury’ to be a ‘present parent’ while making arainbow-themed fruit salad in a new sneak peek of her Netflix series ahead of its release tomorrow.
In the clip, shared online by the streaming service, the Duchess of Sussex, 43, was filmed putting together colourful pieces ofproduce in an artful display.
She started by placing fruits such as grapes, blueberries and strawberries on a chopping board before declaring ‘you don’t have to do a big platter of this…you could do this with one small rowfor your kids for breakfast’.
‘It makes the morning a lot more fun’, said the mother-of-two, before adding: ‘Can I just show you? If you just made one.’
While building the smaller rainbow-themed fruit salad, Prince Harry’s wife insisted: ‘It’s a real delight in being able to be a present parent. And it’s a luxury sometimes because we all have to work. We all have a lot of stuff to do.
‘But when you can take a minute to just… finding the fun in those moments, makes for a really sweet start to the weekend,’ added Meghan, before finishing off her colourful display with yogurt and flower sprinkles.
‘It doesn’t need to be big for a party, it’s how you incorporate these practices everyday,’ concluded the Duchess.
It was estimated that the fruit platter would cost over £30 in the UK to make, due to soaring costs of fresh fruit in supermarkets.
Meanwhile, parents soon took to social media to express that, on an average day for busy mums and dads, the aesthetically pleasing platter would be ‘unrealistic’.
One person said at the time: ‘Fruit and yoghurt arranged on a plate with a sprinkle of edible flowers, just screams ‘kid food’ to me, along with overhead lightening at kids parties lol. Very unrealistic for most working parents but hey…’
A second commented: ‘Many parents can’t afford five or six kinds of fruit. Maybe a bag of apples or oranges. But all that??’
Others said: ‘I’d like to see her do this on a busy school morning, getting the kids up and dressed, making lunches and getting them to school on time’;
‘Seriously, what busy mum has got time to fiddle about with a plate of fruit?’
During an appearance on her friend Jamie Kern Lima’s podcast in May, Meghan revealed that shewakes at 6.30am and after getting the children dressed, fed and to their two different schools, she isn’t back at her £11million Montecito mansion until two-and-half hours after getting up.
‘I know. That’s morning. That’s the morning’, she said breathlessly.
But commentator and journalist Will Kingston joked as he shared the clip: ‘Meghan describes the basic duties of parenting as if they are akin to climbing Everest and curing cancer at the summit’.
While some have derided those who have been unkind about her morning routine – urging critics to ‘leave her alone’ – it has also been the source of mirth for some mothers and fathers with schoolchildren, and jobs, themselves.
One working mum said frankly: ‘That’s the routine of all mums’. Another questioned how long Meghan’s routine was and said: ‘I have 4 kids. Never used a nanny. I’d prepare there lunchboxes the night before. It took 30 min to get them ready for school, 5 min to drive them there’.
