Meghan Markle's Grenfell Charity Hubb Kitchen Closes After Royal Departure
The Hubb Community Kitchen, a volunteer group that became synonymous with Meghan Markle's early work as a royal, has quietly ceased operations. Established in the aftermath of the devastating Grenfell Tower fire on June 14, 2017, the initiative provided a vital community space at Al Manaar mosque in west London, offering refuge and home-cooked meals to bereaved families.
A Royal Launch and Public Success
In her first solo project as a working royal, Meghan, now 44, championed the charity with significant publicity. She helped the group publish Together: Our Community Cookbook, which featured a foreword from the duchess and photos of her cooking alongside volunteers. Supported by The Royal Foundation and published by Penguin Random House, the book soared to number one on Amazon within hours, selling 39,000 copies in the UK.
The cookbook was hailed as evidence of a hands-on monarchy, raising £210,000 that enabled a redesign of the kitchen. Meghan hosted a special launch lunch at Kensington Palace, with her mother, Doria Ragland, flying from the US for the occasion. At the time, Meghan said, 'I immediately felt connected to this community kitchen; it is a place for women to laugh, grieve, cry and cook together.'
Fading Involvement and Closure
However, after Meghan and Prince Harry stepped back from royal duties in 2020 and relocated to the United States, her involvement with the charity waned. On the third anniversary of the fire, which claimed 72 lives, Meghan honored the women via video call from Los Angeles, describing their work as 'love in action.' The last known contact was in June 2022, to mark the fifth anniversary.
Since then, the initiative that symbolized Meghan's grassroots approach to royal duties has effectively gone cold. A spokesman for the Hubb Kitchen confirmed to the Daily Mail, 'I can't talk about the Duchess of Sussex, but the Hubb community kitchen has stopped.' This closure marks the end of a chapter that once highlighted community resilience and royal engagement in the wake of tragedy.
