Meghan Markle’s debut into her role as a working royal was marked by her support of a significant charitable initiative.
The Hubb Community Kitchen, a volunteer group that emerged in response to the Grenfell tragedy and was endorsed by the Duchess, has now discreetly ceased operations.
Established by survivors at Al Manaar mosque following the devastating fire on June 14, 2017, the community kitchen offered a haven and hot meals to grieving families in West London.
In her first independent project as a working royal, Meghan, now 44, brought attention to the charity by aiding in the creation of “Together: Our Community Cookbook,” which included her foreword.
The Royal Foundation supported the cookbook, published by Penguin Random House, which quickly climbed to the top of Amazon’s charts, selling 39,000 copies in the UK.
Featuring images of Meghan actively participating in cooking and connecting with the women volunteers, the cookbook symbolized a modern, engaged monarchy. The £210,000 it generated financed a renovation of the kitchen used by the group.
Indeed, the duchess hosted a special lunch for the book’s launch at Kensington Palace, for which her mother, Doria Ragland, flew over from the US for the occasion. Meghan said at the time: ‘I immediately felt connected to this community kitchen; it is a place for women to laugh, grieve, cry and cook together.’
Meghan, in her first solo project as a working royal, championed the charity Hubb Community Kitchen, pictured prepping food there in 2018
But after Meghan and Harry stepped back from royal duties in 2020 and relocated to the US, it seems that her involvement with the charity has waned.
On the third anniversary of the fire which left 72 dead, the duchess made headlines when she honoured the women of the community kitchen via video call from Los Angeles, describing their work as ‘love in action’.
The last time the duchess reached out to Hubb Kitchen was in June 2022, to mark the fifth anniversary of the fire.
Since then, it seems the stoves have gone cold on the initiative that symbolised Meghan’s grassroots approach to royal duties.
A spokesman for the Hubb Kitchen told the Daily Mail: ‘I can’t talk about the Duchess of Sussex, but the Hubb community kitchen has stopped.’
Strictly’s Nadiya and West End’s Ian waltz to ballet
Strictly Come Dancing’s Nadiya Bychkova did little to quell speculation that she’s dating West End leading man Ian McIntosh – as the pair arrived arm-in-arm at the Ballet Icons Gala 20th Anniversary at the London Coliseum.
She told me: ‘I’m enjoying the Valentine’s weekend with good company.’
The Ukrainian dancer, 36, who has starred in Les Misérables, said of the production: ‘It’s beautiful to see so much talent, artists and creators for one night on the same stage. It’s really special to me especially being a professional dancer.’
Meanwhile, love also took centre stage for Royal Ballet golden couple Fumi Kaneko and Vadim Muntagirov, who I hear tied the knot in London last week. Japan-born Kaneko said of their wedding: ‘Our hearts are full of gratitude and love, becoming Mr and Mrs.’
Nadiya Bychkova is dating West End leading man Ian McIntosh
Newlyweds Fumi Kaneko and Vadim Muntagirov on stage Sunday night at the Coliseum, in London, for the Ballet Icons Gala
Crime queen Val fearful over AI’s ‘massive threat’
She has sold nearly 20 million copies of her crime novels, but Val McDermid worries about the danger AI poses to her trade.
‘I think AI is a massive threat,’ declares the crime writer, adding: ‘AI can produce a certain kind of book, and it is learning all the time.’
‘The only reason it can produce any books at all is because it’s stolen out of all of our texts,’ explains the Scottish ‘Tartan Noir’ author, 70.
According to Cambridge University research, nearly 60 per cent of Britain’s novelists said they knew their work had been used to train AI language models without permission or payment, while more than
one-third suggested their income had ‘taken a hit’ due to the impact of AI.
Val is no exception, stating: ‘They have taken 150 pieces of my work, for which I’ve had no recompense. They’ve not asked my permission, and I have no say in what they do.’
Margot: I was mistaken for a ‘small dude’
Margot Robbie’s femininity was lost on her male opponents when playing ice hockey in the US
Her star turn in Barbie made her one of the most recognisable women in Hollywood, and now she’s casting her spell over cinemagoers as Cathy in Wuthering Heights.
But Margot Robbie’s femininity was lost on her male opponents when playing ice hockey in the US.
‘When you’re in your gear, they can’t really tell you’re a girl,’ Margot tells the Smartless podcast, adding: ‘I just looked like a small dude on the team.’
The 5ft 6in Australian actress, 35, joined an amateur ice hockey team after moving to the US in 2011. She divulges: ‘[Opposing players] would check me so hard and then I’d take the helmet off and they’d be like, ‘Oh s*** sorry I didn’t realise you were a girl.’
Downtown Abbey heartthrob Dan Stevens left England for the US after his character Matthew Crawley was killed off in the ITV period drama.
Now the father-of-three appears to have formalised his transatlantic defection. ‘[I] became a [US] citizen,’ Dan reveals in a social media post.
Stevens, 43, moved to the US with his wife, South African jazz singer Susie Hariet, and their children in 2012, and now lives in Los Angeles. Of life across the pond, he has said: ‘Any Brit who spends a winter in LA realises why you want to live in LA.’
