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Meghan Markle looks back on some special culinary memories in a season 2 episode of With Love, Meghan, streaming now on Netflix
In the episode, Meghan joins Michelin star-winning Chef Clare Smyth in the kitchen
Smyth is a central figure in many of Meghan and Prince Harry’s special food moments, having cooked both for their wedding and a surprise first anniversary dinner that Harry planned in 2019
Meghan Markle is looking back on some of her favorite culinary memories on the new season of her Netflix show, With Love, Meghan.
In an episode from season 2, the Duchess of Sussex was joined by Chef Clare Smyth, the Chef Patron of the three Michelin-star London restaurant Core by Clare Smyth. Smyth is a central figure in many of Meghan’s favorite food moments with husband Prince Harry, having cooked for both their royal wedding and their first anniversary.
“I still remember doing your anniversary. We surprised you,” the chef said of planning the special moment with Harry.
“Oh my gosh, yes, that was so fun,” Meghan said. “In that beautiful little old chapel.”
Netflix
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s first anniversary dinner photo from With Love, Meghan
Meghan didn’t clarify which “old chapel” she and Harry celebrated in, but there are plenty to choose from. St. George’s Chapel at Windsor is where the couple tied the knot in May 2018, but there are also private chapels located around Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, as well as smaller and more intimate venues Harry could have selected.
“It was so funny because of the old building,” Smyth recalled. “My team was laughing because we’re trying not to touch anything, and everything is shaking as they’re going through the old creaky floorboards. There are all these antiques everywhere, like, don’t knock anything down. We were like ninjas… Don’t touch anything.”
“Everything around you is historical,” Meghan added.
Courtesy of Netflix
Meghan Markle and Clare Smyth on With Love, Meghan
Smyth also recalled how a special wedding request led her to create a dish that remains a secret, off-menu item at Core to this day: fried chicken.
Meghan and Harry threw her for a loop by requesting “late-night bites,” the chef said, noting, “It’s not really something I typically do, so we had to try and create a recipe for fried chicken.”
“And you did,” Meghan said.
“And we did, and we kept it. We still do it for only an off-menu item,” Smyth revealed, to Meghan’s delight.
“Oh my gosh, I love that we have created something off menu and that our off-menu item is the fried chicken at Core,” she marveled. “You know, we’re done, that’s it. If that’s my claim to fame, I’m thrilled.”
Netflix
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s first anniversary dinner photo from With Love, Meghan
Until the anecdote in the show, Meghan and Harry had kept the details of the first anniversary surprise private. A 2020 book about the couple, Finding Freedom, detailed how the couple spent a low-key Sunday with their newborn son, Prince Archie, and Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, who came to the U.K. to meet her grandchild.
“On the anniversary of their first year of marriage, Harry and Meghan enjoyed a traditional Sunday lunch with Doria, her last meal before traveling back to L.A.,” wrote authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand. “Her five weeks at Frogmore had flown by, but she had to get back to work.”
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They also shared that Harry gifted Meghan an eternity ring to mark the special occasion, which she wore to the Trooping the Colour event the following month.
“Harry also surprised his wife of one year with a ring that he had created with the jeweler to the stars Lorraine Schwartz, a favorite of Meghan’s,” the authors said.
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