Meghan Markle’s first royal project: a cookbook that empowers women

Sure, Meghan Markle may never have to flip her own buckwheat pancakes or whisk her own matcha ever again, but before she became a royal, she had a knack for experimenting with healthy food in the kitchen—and now she’s using that know-how for her first official project as Duchess of Sussex.

Today, Kensington Palace announced Markle will be supporting the launch of a charity cookbook to help victims affected by the Grenfell Fire tragedy which shook the UK earlier this year. The proceeds from the cookbook sales will support the Hubb Community Kitchen, which was initially set up after the tragedy as a place for people to help cook for families affected by the fire but has become a community gathering place even months after the incident.

“Together is a cookbook but it’s also the story of a West London community who gathered in a kitchen and discovered the healing power of sharing food,” Markle says in the voiceover for the official video from the palace.

“In January 2018 as I was settling into my new home of London, I met a group of women whose community had been affected by the Grenfell Fire. They had decided to get together to cook fresh food for their families and their neighbors,” Markle says in the video.

“And so for two days every week these women were able to cook and share their delicious recipes together,” Markle says. A woman in the video mentions that they decided to call the kitchen the Hubb Community Kitchen since in Arabic “Hubb” means love.

“I immediately felt connected to this community kitchen. Like these women, I’m passionate about food and cooking as a way of strengthening communities,” Markle says.

“I immediately felt connected to this community kitchen. Like these women, I’m passionate about food and cooking as a way of strengthening communities.”

In the video, Markle is shown meeting with women in the community, including a woman who describes the moment Markle found out that the kitchen could only afford to stay open two days a week. Markle immediately responded, “We can do a cookbook.”

The best part? You won’t have to wait long to get your hands on a copy since Together: Our Community Cookbook is available for pre-order on Amazon and is set to release on September 25. (Yep, like next week.)

Here’s to hoping this will be the first of many projects to come that nod to her former life as a lifestyle/food blogger and women’s rights activist. One thing’s for sure—Markle wasted no time diving into her charity work full-force and it looks like she’s just getting started.

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