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Meghan Markle’s Culinary Ventures Anticipate Both Praise and Scrutiny
Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, is launching her new lifestyle brand, “As Ever,” with food products and online content, and she’s already bracing for commentary, particularly about her banana pudding recipe. “I anticipate some individuals might be displeased that I omitted the wafers as layers,” she stated, demonstrating how she crumbles Nilla wafers to sprinkle on top of the vanilla pudding and sliced bananas instead of incorporating them within. “However, I favor them finely crushed on the summit.”
During a recent vibrant morning at her Montecito, California residence, Meghan moved between her garden, where Prince Harry briefly appeared in Birkenstocks to mention an impending work call, and her spacious, well-used kitchen. There, her mother, Doria Ragland, elegantly dressed in denim jeans, a white T-shirt, and a silver nose ring, searched for breakfast items in the expansive refrigerator.
“Grandma Jeanette would have employed instant pudding,” Meghan remarked, referencing Ms. Ragland’s mother, as they sampled a homemade pudding infused with vanilla. “Yet, she would have adored this rendition.”
Navigating Public Perception: From Royal Life to Domestic Pursuits
Last month, the Netflix docuseries, “With Love, Meghan,” provided the public with an intimate glimpse into the Duchess’s life transition from a departing royal figure to a celebrated domestic personality. Following their departure from the United Kingdom and its intense media focus in 2020, she and Harry established their family in the tranquil, sun-drenched and affluent community of Montecito. However, the series has inadvertently reintroduced some of the external pressures she sought to escape.
Similar to celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Chrissy Teigen who have established culinary and lifestyle brands, Meghan lacks formal professional cooking credentials. A recent invitation extended to a reporter—marking the first press access to her kitchen—revealed her genuine passion for home cooking. She demonstrated proficiency with vinaigrettes, quick utilization of a lemon zester, and skillful knife handling. (The kitchen visit was granted on the condition of no photography within or of the residence).
At 43, brimming with enthusiasm and a persona reminiscent of Charlotte York’s spirited energy, Meghan continues to define her public image while presenting it to a global audience. Her decisions in this realm may be interpreted as entrepreneurial, endearing, or self-absorbed, but undeniably represent a significant endeavor.
“As Ever”: Launching a New Lifestyle Brand
The scope of her entrepreneurial pursuits is expanding. This Wednesday marks the market debut of “As Ever,” Meghan’s curated line of food products, priced between $12 and $15. The collection includes baking mixes, artisanal honeys, and her widely recognized jams—which, to her dismay, are legally categorized as “fruit spreads” due to regulatory standards from the Food and Drug Administration. (The brand’s initial name, American Riviera Orchard, was reportedly revised after trademark challenges arose).
Meghan also recently宣布一系列新的播客系列。“女创始人的自白”，并开设了一个ShopMy频道，粉丝可以在屏幕上购买她身上的服装和产品，从头（Lottabody的Control Me Edge Gel）到脚（CND Shellac）。
“With Love, Meghan” and the Specter of Criticism
“With Love, Meghan” portrays her in a sequence of idealized scenes – none of which were filmed in her actual kitchen, a nearby house served as a studio – engaging in cooking, crafting, and hosting tea parties. However, the notion that truffle popcorn and balloon decorations would be universally accepted proved inaccurate.
Upon the series release, a vast audience, accustomed to scrutinizing Meghan’s role within the British Royal Family, readily extended their critiques to encompass her roles as a wife, mother, cook, decorator, and hostess. Many characterized her presentation as excessively sweet, artificial, and uninspiring. Comparisons were drawn to figures like Hannah Neeleman of Ballerina Farm and other influencers associated with the “tradwife” trend, who romanticize conventional “women’s work,” such as poultry care and breakfast preparation, tasks that many contemporary women do not aspire to resume.
The series’ most effective episodes depicted Meghan as a respectful apprentice to chefs like Alice Waters and Roy Choi. In contrasting segments, she assumed a teaching role, demonstrating recipes like pasta salad and offering entertaining advice to friends who were tasked with exhibiting enthusiasm while she presented them with raw seafood or tied ribbons on gift bags containing peanut-butter-filled pretzels. These latter episodes became the primary targets of online mockery.
Certain criticisms were more incisive. Social media posts highlighted her Le Creuset cookware, alleging it to be prohibitively expensive for many Black women and more flamboyant than conventional cast-iron. In response, Black women initiated online displays of their own extensive Le Creuset collections. Journalist Michele Norris defended Meghan, posing the question: “Why is anyone surprised or disturbed that she possesses beautifully color-coordinated cookware? Do critics similarly target Ina Garten or Martha Stewart for their cookware choices?”
Authenticity in the Public Eye
In a related discussion, Ms. Norris pointed out the illogic of singling out Meghan for not utilizing her “real” kitchen for filming. “Every set kitchen is inherently performative,” stated Ms. Norris, who hosts a podcast centered on food and culture. “I believe she successfully presents an authentic version of herself within that constructed environment. Why is expressing joy considered objectionable?”
Chef Carla Hall, who transitioned from a modeling career to culinary arts and similarly faced scrutiny regarding her culinary background upon entering television, observed, “Everyone projects their expectations onto her. It’s an unwinnable situation.”
This raises a pertinent question: Why would someone who has endured years of intense public focus willingly place herself back under such scrutiny?
Financial motivation is undoubtedly a factor. Meghan and Harry’s production agreement with Netflix, established in 2020, concludes this year, and several of their recent documentary projects—centered on polo and Harry’s Invictus Games—experienced limited success. However, Netflix maintains confidence in her potential, having already commissioned a second season of her series and invested in her “As Ever” brand.
Fan Engagement and Personal Motivation
Despite the criticism, millions of admirers have shown their support in the past month. According to Netflix data, the show reached the top 10 rankings in 24 countries within its premiere week, accumulating 2.6 million views. Many items featured on Meghan’s ShopMy page sold out rapidly, within hours or days. Furthermore, since January 1, coinciding with the launch of her new Instagram account (her previous account was deleted preceding her marriage into the Royal Family), she has amassed 2.7 million followers.
Beyond financial considerations, personal fulfillment is a significant motivator. “I need to work, and I find fulfillment in work,” she stated, emphasizing that she had been continuously employed since age 13 until her marriage to Harry. With two young children to raise, she explained, “This endeavor allows me to integrate my domestic life and professional pursuits.” (Prince Archie is 5 and Princess Lilibet is 3, currently sixth and seventh in line to the British throne, respectively).
She aims to pursue these endeavors without fueling sensationalist headlines and online speculation. Reflecting the approach of a global brand executive, her team monitors online comment sections and social media platforms to shield her from direct exposure to negativity. Upon learning about the Le Creuset controversy, she expressed bewilderment. “This is a topic of discussion in 2025?” she remarked, gesturing dismissively and turning to her mother.
“People are reacting intensely these days,” Ms. Ragland, 68, calmly responded. The conversation then shifted to more practical matters, such as the necessity of air fryers, the merits of immersion blenders for soup preparation, and whether Grandma Jeanette utilized dried or fresh apples in her hand pies.
Meghan presents as optimistic, engaging, and consistently articulate when interacting with reporters. However, she is noticeably affected by claims of being detached and unrelatable. She acknowledges her current life resembles a fairy tale, yet she recalls her recent past as a moderately known actress on a moderately successful television program. She was divorced, in her mid-thirties, and uncertain about her future career and residence.
“Do they not realize my life has not always been this way?” she questioned, motioning towards the expansive scenery and resting dogs.
A Culinary Journey
During Meghan’s upbringing in Los Angeles, her mother’s demanding work schedule left limited time for extensive home cooking. However, Ms. Ragland inherited a strong culinary heritage.
Her father, Alvin, had familial connections to Tennessee. “My father habitually carried a bottle of Red Rooster hot sauce,” she recalled.
For her mother, Jeanette, like many Black women of her generation, culinary and gardening skills were fundamental. In their Crenshaw neighborhood home, Meghan recounted, her grandmother cultivated collard greens and tomatoes in their garden, prepared hand pies from scratch following dinner, and predominantly cooked with a single cast-iron skillet.
As a self-professed latchkey child from a divorced family, Meghan enjoyed indulging in fast food—Jack in the Box curly fries were a particular favorite—and watching consecutive episodes of cooking shows on the Food Network. “Alternatively, I would visit Grandma Jeanette’s after school,” she mentioned. “She prepared the ultimate after-school snack: Kraft grilled cheese on white Wonder bread,” Meghan reminisced fondly. “So much butter.”
Ms. Ragland’s profession as a travel agent facilitated frequent weekend excursions for the pair, exploring Oaxacan street food, Jamaican roadside jerk cuisine, and local Thai restaurants throughout Los Angeles.
Meghan began cooking for friends during her undergraduate years at Northwestern University, utilizing a Rachael Ray recipe for grilled cheese sandwiches enhanced with fontina cheese and sliced pears.
“At 20, in a compact apartment in Evanston, presenting that sandwich alongside a bottle of Two-Buck Chuck—during Trader Joe’s early expansion—we considered it exceptionally sophisticated,” she recounted.
In subsequent years in Toronto, where the television series “Suits” was filmed, she hosted dinner parties, initiated a lifestyle blog titled “The Tig,” and instructed Prince Harry in preparing roast chicken. (Specifically, Ina Garten’s Perfect Roast Chicken, which they were preparing together when he proposed marriage).
She utilized her brief period within the royal spotlight to conceive and publish “Together: Our Community Cookbook,” a compilation of recipes contributed by women who lost family members in the Grenfell Tower fire, the devastating high-rise fire in West London in 2017. In a recent Substack newsletter, royal commentator Tina Brown, known for her skepticism towards Meghan, described the cookbook as a moment “when her culinary and lifestyle interests coalesced with a genuine charitable endeavor” and “a public relations triumph.”
From Simple Fare to Elegant Desserts
Approximately one hundred miles north—and a world removed—from her grandmother’s kitchen, Meghan rinsed fresh strawberries harvested from her garden. She then sliced and macerated them in sugar, lemon juice, and zest to incorporate into the pudding and banana layers.
In contrast to the contemporary white kitchen featured in her series, this kitchen—designed and constructed by the previous homeowners—features a naturally aged wooden island (complementing a marble island), a heavily used Viking stove, and classic blue-and-white tile accents.
It includes a traditional butler’s pantry with cabinets storing glassware and tea sets, as well as a modern pantry stocked with meticulously arranged ingredients and snacks. Shelves are lined with cookbooks by culinary figures such as Giada De Laurentiis, Yotam Ottolenghi, and Toni Tipton-Martin, alongside a well-worn copy of “From Seed to Skillet,” the 2010 publication by gardening authority Jimmy Williams focused on creating and cooking from a home garden. Just outside the kitchen area, a framed photograph of a young Harry with his mother, Princess Diana, is prominently displayed.
Meghan openly acknowledges her ongoing learning process. The residence includes two pizza ovens that are largely unused, and her initial attempt at sourdough bread production she described as both uninspiring and sufficiently challenging to deter her from future attempts, leading her back to purchasing from bakeries.
“Professionals excel at that skill beyond my capabilities,” she admitted.
For casual dinners for herself and her children, she frequently relies on chicken nuggets, vegetarian burgers, and Tater Tots (her freezer is abundantly stocked with them).
A potential differentiator for Meghan in the saturated landscape of food influencing is her meticulous attention to detail. Calligraphy and gift-wrapping expertise, initially developed to generate supplemental income, now enhance her presentation in leveling layer cakes and meticulously arranging salads. She genuinely focuses on the directional alignment of radishes on a charcuterie board, and she genuinely transfers takeout meals onto serving platters on occasion (evidence of which was personally observed).
To finalize the pudding, she employed a hand mixer to prepare Chantilly cream—a vanilla-infused, sweetened whipped cream that would inspire the dessert’s name: Chantilly Lili, named after her 3-year-old, red-haired daughter who had just returned home.
Ms. Ragland remained unconvinced of her personal necessity for a hand mixer, noting her KitchenAid stand mixer at her Los Angeles residence. The Duchess playfully rolled her eyes at her mother, a common familial gesture between daughters and mothers.
“My mom still possesses Grandma Jeanette’s cast-iron skillet,” she confided. “That’s the item I truly desire.”
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