Meghan Markle‘s appearance on ‘MasterChef Australia’ was hailed as a PR triumph by many, but behind the scenes, the Duchess of Sussex was reportedly left unhappy with how she was introduced on the show. Her team had specifically requested that the word “royal” not be used, and according to sources, that request was not honoured.During Channel Ten’s promotional video revealing Meghan as a guest judge, host Poh Ling Yeow declared, “We’ve had MasterChef royalty in the kitchen before but no one like this.” According to news.com.au, Meghan’s team “were outside the doors when it was filmed, so didn’t know what had been said.”
Why the ‘royalty’ comment left Meghan Markle frustrated
A report has claimed that Meghan’s team had “specifically” made it clear she did not want the word “royal” used in her introduction. The comment was also at odds with Meghan’s own previously stated wishes around her name and identity.On her lifestyle series ‘With Love, Meghan’, she corrected friend Mindy Kaling for using her maiden name. “It’s so funny, too, that you keep saying ‘Meghan Markle.’ You know I’m ‘Sussex’ now,” she said, emphasising that the shared family name had become deeply meaningful to her since having children. Following that correction, she was subsequently introduced as Meghan Sussex during an appearance on the ‘Drew Barrymore Show’.
The broader controversy surrounding Meghan Markle’s Australian visit
The ‘MasterChef Australia’ frustration was not the only point of contention during the couple’s four-day trip. The decision to monetise Meghan’s outfit through AI fashion platform OneOff, in which she announced her partnership and investment while the couple were in Australia, drew criticism from royal commentators.Royal commentator Richard Palmer warned, “This is perhaps the starkest example yet of Harry and Meghan’s efforts to commercialise their royal brand.” Meghan is said to earn a commission of between 10 and 25 per cent on sales of her outfit through the app.A separate dispute also emerged over whether Australian taxpayers should bear the cost of police protection, given that the couple’s own representatives had repeatedly characterised the trip as “private” rather than an official royal tour. More than 47,000 people signed a petition titled “No Taxpayer-Funding or Official Support for Harry and Meghan’s Private Visit to Australia.” New South Wales Police confirmed that officers would be deployed during the tour because it “will require some additional security measures.“The couple also visited Bondi Beach during the trip, where they met with survivors of the tragic terror attack that claimed 15 lives in December.
