Meghan Markle insists that she doesn’t want to be called ‘Duchess’ as Poh Ling Yeow introduces her as a guest judge on MasterChef Australia in front of stunne contestants

Meghan Markle insisted that she did not want to be called ‘Duchess’ as Poh Ling Yeow introduced her on MasterChef Australia on Sunday evening. 

The Duchess of Sussex, 44, made her much-anticipated debut on the cooking show after filming the guest spot during her tour to Australia three months ago. 

Before Meghan arrived on set, Poh told the contestants she was so excited to introduce a mystery guest judge filling in for Andy Allen, who was on paternity leave, that she was trying to refrain from ‘swearing’. 

Meghan then strutted into the MasterChef kitchen, much to the shock of the amateur chefs.

‘Welcome. Do I call you Duchess?’ Poh asked. 

‘Oh, call me Meghan. Absolutely, yeah,’ Meghan insisted.

‘Thank you. Welcome, Meghan, we are so honoured in the MasterChef kitchen. How does it feel to be back in Australia?’ Poh said. 

Meghan went on declare her love for the land Down Under, explaining that the trip was a ‘full circle’ moment for her and her husband, Prince Harry, as they had announced they were expecting their son, Prince Archie, while visiting the country eight years ago.

‘Oh, we’re so excited. We love Australia. We had the most sentimental, amazing time. We were here almost eight years ago.  We announced we were pregnant with Archie at the time. So, it’s full circle, here we are, but thrilled to be here with all of you and taste some really good food. I’ve heard you’ve been cooking up a storm this season,’ she said. 

Meghan then went on to proudly boast that both her children –  Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet –  enjoy eating Brussels sprouts and encouraged MasterChef Australia contestants to ‘keep a sense of humour’.

For Meghan’s guest spot, contestants of the hit show were asked to create a ‘dish fit for a Duchess’ using ingredients she handpicked from the pantry.

She asked them to whip up a dish using ingredients like honey, macadamia nuts, citrus, edible flowers and celeriac.

As she unveiled a table laden with seasonal produce, Meghan told the contestants ‘my kids eat Brussels sprouts’ as judge Poh Ling Yeow could be heard saying ‘that’s impressive’.

The Duchess, whose Netflix series With Love, Meghan was recently nominated for a Daytime Emmy, also had a few words of wisdom for the contestants as she acknowledged ‘there is a lot of pressure in this kitchen’.

‘I don’t like to cook that way, I like to cook in a really relaxed fashion,’ she continued.

‘So, all I can say to the competitors was to just remember to have fun, to keep a sense of humour about it, and to cook from the heart’.

Meghan added that ‘food and cooking are how I show my nurturing and love for my friends, family and my kids’ in a sweet nod to her and Prince Harry’s children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

She told the contestants: ‘I’d love it if there’s a connection that you can find when, as you’re cooking something, what is the story behind it?… What is something from your family or from a memory… something sentimental that we can also taste as we taste your dish?’

‘These are all things that, for me, feel really nostalgic,’ she added.

The former actress filmed her cameo when she visited Australia with husband Prince Harry during their pseudo-royal tour three months ago.

She has said her love of good food and Australia were the two reasons she chose to be a guest judge on the country’s biggest cooking show.

‘What attracted me to the MasterChef Australia kitchen? Two things: my love of food and my love of Australia. It was an easy yes,’ Meghan said in a press release announcing the broadcast date.

‘It’s such a great show. I’m just really honoured that I was asked to be here with you and to be able to judge some of these meals.’ 

Meghan’s sensitivities over claims that her Australian tour with Harry was cashing in on their royal links led to a row over her MasterChef appearance, it was claimed at the time.

The Duchess of Sussex was reportedly ‘very frustrated’ with producers when she was described as ‘royalty’ in the promo for Australia’s wildly popular reality TV show.

Meghan and her team had ‘specifically’ made clear they did not want the word ‘royal’ used, a source said.

‘We’ve had MasterChef royalty in the kitchen before but no one like this,’ fellow judge Poh said.

But a report in Australia claimed Meghan was unhappy about being described as royalty, despite the fact that, through her marriage to Harry, the term is technically correct.

Meghan earned a surprise Daytime Emmy nomination for her axed Netflix cooking series – eight years after she ‘politely turned down’ an invite to the glitzy awards ceremony.

Meghan launched the first series of With Love, Meghan on the streaming platform in March 2025, alongside unveiling her lifestyle brand As Ever.

A second series and Christmas special followed, with the mother-of-two offering hosting tips and cooking lessons from inside a rented £5million mansion near her and Prince Harry’s Montecito home.

However, the show was largely panned by critics and viewers alike after it failed to break into the streamer’s top 1,000 most-watched programmes, according to viewing figures released by Netflix.

Despite scathing reviews, the show – which was axed in January 2026 – has received a nomination in the outstanding lifestyle programme category.