Meghan Markle hosted her first major event at Kensington Palace on Thursday and she did it alongside her mother, Doria Ragland, and husband, Prince Harry.
The Duchess of Sussex put on an event to launch a cookbook for which she wrote the foreword. The book, Together: Our Community Cookbook, contains 50 recipes from a group of women who began cooking together after they were affected by the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire.
Ragland was spotted at the airport in Los Angeles a few days ago, and observers assumed she would be in London for Meghan’s big event.
According to Daily Mail correspondent Rebecca English, Ragland introduced herself to guests at the event as “Meg’s mom.”
Meghan also gave a speech thanking the women of the community kitchen as her mom and husband looked on.
The palace announced earlier this week that Meghan secretly began meeting and cooking with the women at the Hubb Community Kitchen in January. All proceeds from the book will benefit the kitchen.
“I immediately felt connected to this community kitchen; it is a place for women to laugh, grieve, cry and cook together,” the former “Suits” actress said in a statement on The Royal Foundation’s website.
“Melding cultural identities under a shared roof, it creates a space to feel a sense of normalcy ― in its simplest form, the universal need to connect, nurture, and commune through food, through crisis or joy ― something we can all relate to. … Through this charitable endeavour, the proceeds will allow the kitchen to thrive and keep the global spirit of community alive,” she said in the statement.
Serena Williams, who has been friends with the former actress for years, praised Meghan’s first solo project as a royal in a sweet Instagram post on Monday.
“I used to call you Meghan (and I still do) but dear Duchess of Sussex your first project ‘Together’ [is] a cookbook bringing women of all cultures together,” Williams wrote. “I could not be more excited about it and proud of you.”
You can preview two of the recipes featured in the book here on HuffPost UK.
Royal news doesn’t stop at the wedding. Subscribe to HuffPost’s Watching the Royals newsletter for all things Windsor (and beyond).