Martha Stewart has been asked about Meghan Markle several times over the past year, with the two often coming up in the same conversation. Stewart, 85, is regarded as the original lifestyle guru, having built an empire and becoming America's first self-made female billionaire. Through her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she has produced dozens of best-selling cookbooks and launched multiple TV programmes.
Meghan launched her lifestyle brand As Ever last year and her Netflix show, With Love, Meghan, leading to comparisons with Stewart. The occasional mention of each other turned into something more earlier this month when the pair attended the same dinner party.
Stewart's initial comments
In April 2025, while promoting her new NBC cooking competition show, Yes, Chef!, Stewart was pressed on whether she had watched With Love, Meghan yet. A few months later, Meghan said in an interview that she was "flattered" to be compared to Stewart and Gwyneth Paltrow when asked about comparisons made between them.
"Those are incredibly successful business women, so I don’t take that lightly. That means a lot if there’s any comparison made in that regard," the Duchess of Sussex said on the Aspire with Emma Grede podcast.
However, Meghan was accused of "copying" Stewart's career playbook, with her projects appearing to borrow heavily from the homemaking legend's career path.
Stewart's response to comparisons
Following her remarks, Stewart shared her take on the comparisons. "Meghan, I don't really know very well," she told Yahoo Lifestyle Australia. "I hope she knows what she's talking about."
She added: "Authenticity, to me, is everything, and to be authentic and knowledgeable about your subject matter is extremely important."
Stewart was also asked about Paltrow's career change, of which she was much more complimentary. "Gwyneth has been very successful; she created quite an interesting body of businesses. She’s admired. She won an Oscar for heaven’s sake as an actress! She’s pretty powerful," she observed.
The dinner party incident
During an interview with PEOPLE, published on August 5, Stewart said she overheard Meghan discussing her recent trip to the UK, during which the Sussexes were hosted by King Charles at Highgrove.
"I had dinner with Meghan Markle the other night," Stewart said. "We were both guests at a dinner party in California. And she had just gotten back from the palace. I didn’t talk to her really more than to say a couple words, but I know she was talking about it."
She also appeared to hit out at the authenticity of Meghan's career path, adding: "If you’re an actress, it’s hard to then transition to a princess and then from a princess into a homemaking guru on a television show. It doesn’t sort of follow. So go from there."
A source was quick to hit back at Stewart's claims, branding them "simply untrue". "I sat next to Meghan at the dinner party, and this account of what happened is simply untrue," the source told PEOPLE. "Meghan didn’t talk about her European vacation other than to say the family had a great time."
"Meghan has always been a fan of Martha’s and enjoyed getting to meet her briefly at the dinner," they added.
