Clare Smyth is the first female chef in Britain to achieve three Michelin stars, but one of her other claims to fame is that she was chosen by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to cook for their 2018 wedding reception. The celebrated chef reunited with the Duchess of Sussex on season two of With Love, Meghan—which premiered on Tuesday, August 26—and in the episode, the duo shared some tidbits about the royal wedding, including some never-before-seen photos.
The chef’s London restaurant, Core by Clare Smyth, is known for its incredible, seasonally-inspired food, and she joined Meghan at a Santa Barbara fish market to choose ingredients during episode six of the Netflix show. As they chatted in the kitchen, the Duchess of Sussex noted how it was important to the couple to focus on sustainability in their wedding menu.
“We had the map where everything was sourced—we really wanted people to appreciate where every ingredient was coming from,” the duchess said on With Love, Meghan. “I mean, that was the most delicious meal. Everyone still talks about it.”
You may like
Clare Smyth showed Meghan some of her chef secrets on With Love, Meghan.
(Image credit: Netflix)
In an interview with the Times on Sunday, Smyth said she served “roast chicken with a twist” as one of the dishes at the wedding, a nod to the dish the couple ate on the night they got engaged. In a previous episode of With Love, Meghan featuring Tan France, Meghan admitted she made a “terrible” chicken the night Prince Harry proposed as she was still struggling with figuring out the U.S. to U.K. conversions for cooking.
While discussing how American and British people use different terms for the same foods on With Love Meghan, the duchess also talked about how the tables at their wedding reception—held at Frogmore House in Windsor—were named after variations on ingredients such as “cilantro” for the Americans and “coriander” for the Brits. Photos of the tables flashed on the screen, with one featuring a large white floral arrangement with wild greenery and flowers dripping down from above—details that matched the color scheme of the flowers at St George’s Chapel, where Harry and Meghan’s ceremony was held. Another table featured small, low arrangements in the same color and crystal candlesticks.
Some photos of the couple also featured in the episode, including one of Harry and Meghan on the dance floor, a shot of the fireworks display at Frogmore House and another of the couple holding hands in their reception outfits. Discussing the wedding’s after party, Smyth shared that she made “fried chicken,” as part of the late-night menu admitting, “it’s not really something I typically do.”
Meghan shared some snapshots from her wedding reception in the episode.
(Image credit: Netflix)
“So we had to try and create a recipe for fried chicken, and we did, and we kept it,” Smyth said, adding that at Core, “We still do it for only an off-menu item.”
Smyth also shared that Meghan used her signature calligraphy on the menus for the royal wedding. After receiving a travel kit that the duchess created by making an iron-on transfer with her handwriting, the chef remarked on how Meghan likes to make everything personal, noting, “You did that with the menu for the wedding. You had it all, like, drawn, and it was beautiful.”
Speaking to the Times about past criticisms of the show, Smyth said she was “not bothered about that at all,” adding that With Love, Meghan is “a show that’s quite sweet and nice…It’s easygoing and lighthearted.”
Season two of With Love, Meghan is now streaming on Netflix.
