Prue Leith: I’m not a fan of Meghan – I won’t watch her Netflix show
Dame Prue Leith has said she is “not a Meghan Markle fan” and will not be watching the Duchess of Sussex’s new cooking show on Netflix.
The former Great British Bake Off judge, 85, suggested on Friday that the Duchess of Sussex’s recently launched Netflix series, With Love, Meghan, was an exercise in “touchy-feely mindfulness”.
“I’ve only read about it, but I honestly wouldn’t watch it,” Dame Prue told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
Asked why, the celebrity chef explained: “Well, I’m not a Meghan Markle fan. I don’t know [why], all that sort of touchy-feely mindfulness, endless worrying about what creams you put on your hands.
“I just think there’s more to life than how you look and how your friends think of you.”
Her comments are an apparent swipe at the image that the Duchess presents in her new series, during which she suggests that people with small houses and gardens can still enjoy a “small piece” of her lifestyle.
The eight-part series, that accompanies the launch of Meghan’s commercial brand As Ever, is described as a lifestyle show that blends practical tips and tricks with conversations with her celebrity friends.
Among the domestic tips offered throughout the show include leaving a jar of bath salts in the spare room, scenting face towels with lavender and to steep tea in the warmth of the sun for two to three hours to create “sun” tea, a childhood favourite of hers.
The series, which has been confirmed for a second season, acted as a springboard to sell Meghan’s products which promote domestic idyll. As Ever stocks anything from jams and cutlery to nut butters, place mats and flower sprinkles.
However, the show was widely panned by critics, with Variety saying it exists “as a sort of celebration of all things Duchess of Sussex” in a scathing review. The Hollywood entertainment magazine added: “No amount of praise seems enough.”
Its review also suggested that Meghan did not have the natural savvy or competence of doyennes of cookery and lifestyle television, such as Martha Stewart and Ina Garten, and mocked her comparatively vacuous comments and creations.
‘These woke times’
Dame Prue, who said earlier this year that she does not “really care” if she is cancelled, later joked that she had probably “alienated half my fans” with the comments about Meghan.
Dame Prue has had links to the Royal family for many years, including meetings at Buckingham Palace as part of her former job as chairwoman of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) and as ambassador for the King’s Coronation Big Lunch celebrations.
As chairwoman of the RSA, she met the late Prince Philip, who was president, and described him as “intelligent, amazingly well-read and curious about almost everything”, as well as a “breath of fresh air in these woke times”.
She has also previously recounted a story in which she botched a cup of tea – by adding lemon slices to it – for the late Queen when she was catering at a building Elizabeth II was set to open.
More recently, the Bake Off judge inspected the King’s chosen coronation quiche recipe alongside the Duke of Edinburgh at a Big Lunch event at Westminster Abbey.
‘Just have fun’
In January, she vowed to speak her mind and “just have fun”. It comes after she made a surprise appearance at the Vin + Omi fashion show last year, when she appeared “sexed up” in a black latex dress.
The new series of Prue Leith’s Cotswold Kitchen starts on Saturday at 11.40am on ITV1.
