Princess Eugenie takes a leaf out of Meghan Markle’s book as she joins baking workshop at community kitchen for abused women

Princess Eugenie took a leaf out of Meghan Markle’s book this weekend as she donned an apron and rolled up her sleeves to join a community kitchen.

The mother-of-two, 33, worked with her Anti-Slavery Collective colleague Julia de Boinville at the Bramber Bakehouse in East Sussex this weekend, in her role at the charity which aims to end modern slavery.

In a photo shared on the Anti-Slavery Collective’s Instagram page, the co-hosts of the Floodlight podcast wear brown aprons emblazoned with the Bramber Bakehouse logo, during a visit reminiscent of the Duchess of Sussex’s involvement in a communal kitchen in Grenfell in 2018.

The Duchess, 42, became involved at The Hubb Community Kitchen in North Kensington a year after the horror fire at Grenfell Tower, which killed 72 people.

As Princess Eugenie returns to her dedicated charity work after a few months of maternity leave following the birth of her second son Ernest, she has called out her cousin’s wife with her involvement with Bramber Bakehouse.

The daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson announced her return to work last week when she and Julia took to the Anti-Slavery Collective’s Instagram account ahead of the release of the second series of their podcast.

In a photo shared from their visit to Bramber Bakehouse, the Anti-Slavery Collective explained that the cooking school supports female survivors of human trafficking and modern slavery.

The caption for the photo explained: ‘The program is designed to give women the confidence, knowledge and skills for a positive future.’

In particular, the Bakehouse supports women who use its services by offering therapeutic baking sessions, providing sessions with trauma-informed experts to focus on the women’s wellbeing, and teaching them transferable skills that will help them to rebuild their lives.

Eugenie’s visit to the cookery school is reminiscent of Meghan Markle’s charity work with the Hubb Community Kitchen in Grenfell

When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex partnered with the Hubb Community Kitchen in 2018, it marked the start of a long-term relationship between the couple and the initiative to support families affected by the Grenfell Tower fire.

Meghan, who was praised at the time for rolling up her sleeves and getting busy preparing food in the kitchen, also contributed recipes to a cookbook, Together, which was her first solo venture as a member of the British royal family.

Over the years, the Sussexes’ relationship with the kitchen has remained close, with Meghan checking in regularly despite now living thousands of miles away in Montecito, California.

In June 2022, the Hubb Community Kitchen posted an update on Facebook to confirm that Meghan was still in contact with the Grenfell community.

Volunteers in the kitchen told how the Duchess of Sussex had been in touch with questions about their welfare and shared the news about her own children, Archie, three, and Lilibet, one.

They wrote: ‘Today is a day when we look back, remember and reflect. I just found this photo of all of us on the day our cookbook came out.

‘The Duchess had packed a book for each of us and written a beautiful message for each lady on the first page.’

The comment continued: ‘Always very thoughtful, today we received a lovely voice message from the Duchess, on the 5th anniversary of the Grenfell tragedy, asking how we are doing, about our children and families and our news about her gifts. Just being her beautiful, kind self.”

Meghan’s contribution to charity work through cooking has seen her contribute to another cookbook this year, Feeding Humanity, Feeding Hope from the World Central Kitchen.

The recipes in the book were collected by Spanish-born chef José Andrés and feature guest appearances from famous faces including the Duchess and former First Lady, Michelle Obama.

In a promotional video for the book, published today in the US and available for purchase for $35, Andrés tests out some recipes, including Meghan’s cake.

As he holds a plate with a slice of the moist-looking dessert and puts a fork in his mouth, he doesn’t say much to assess the cake – but his very pleased facial expression suggests it’s a triumph.

As he introduces the recipe in the promotional video, Chef José says, “This is from Meghan. This amazing lemon tart.’

He then eats a forkful of cake, which is dusted with powdered sugar and topped with rosemary and what looks like candied lemon peel, and nods as he tastes a bite of the dessert. He adds, “Oh yes.”

He then points to the cake and suggests that this is something everyone should try.