Meghan (née Markle), Duchess of Sussex, has really come into her own as a member of the royal family since she married Prince Harry, the now-Duke of Sussex, in May. The duchess gave her first public speech as a royal on Thursday, just four months after she took on her new title and began her royal duties — and she did the whole thing without notes.
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People reports that Meghan gave a three-minute speech at an event celebrating the launch of a cookbook she helped create with the women of London’s Hubb Community Kitchen. The cookbook, called Together, features recipes from women whose community was directly impacted by the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017. Meghan wrote the foreword for the book, proceeds from which will go toward helping The Hubb Community Kitchen stay open and to help widen its reach and impact.
During her speech, Meghan said, “Working on this project for the past nine months has been a tremendous labor of love. I just recently moved to London, and I felt so immediately embraced by this kitchen — your warmth and kindness, and also to be able to be in this city and to see in this one small room how multicultural it was.”
She added, “On a personal level, I feel so proud to live in this city that can have so much diversity. There’s 12 countries represented in this one group of women. It’s pretty outstanding.”
ITV News royal editor Chris Ship captured video of Meghan’s speech, which he shared on Twitter.
More of the speech The Duchess of Sussex about the #Grenfell cookbook. ‘It’s been a tremendous labour of love’ she said.
Prince Harry looked on – proudly… pic.twitter.com/0h8SnPeta9— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) September 20, 2018
Meghan noted that the Together cookbook is her first royal project, which makes it even more special. “I said in the foreword that this is more than a cookbook, and what I mean by that is the power of food is more than just the meal itself,” she said. “It’s the story behind it. When we get to know the story of the recipe, you get to know the person behind it,” she said. “That’s what we’re talking about in terms of coming together to really engage and talk and to be able to celebrate what connects us rather than what divides us. That, I believe, is the ethos of Together.“
Meghan speak for 3 mins without notes as she thanks the women of #hubbcommunitykitchen for ‘her first project’ pic.twitter.com/wismMJDg9W
— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) September 20, 2018
To conclude, Meghan encouraged attendees at the event to dig into their meals: coconut chicken curry, aubergine masala and chapatis, all from recipes in the Together cookbook and all made by members of The Hubb Community Kitchen.
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Both Prince Harry and Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, watched from the sidelines as she spoke about this impactful project and what it means to her. For her first royal speech, she absolutely nailed it — we can’t wait to see what Meghan does next.
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