The Duchess of Sussex once sparked outrage among Italians with a controversial spaghetti recipe on her Netflix lifestyle show, but the Princess of Wales has now won over the nation with her pasta-making prowess during a two-day overseas trip.
Kate's Pasta Skills Impress Italian Chef
Kate, 44, was hailed as a 'natural Rezdora'—the local term for a matriarch or housewife—as she hand-rolled freshly made dough. She impressed chef Ivan Lampredi while kneading flour, oil, salt, and water in a large bowl to make tortelli, a type of stuffed pasta.
The professional chef later said he would 'hire' her. 'I have shown many people how to do this exactly right and she was very good at it,' Mr Lampredi gushed. 'She learnt it very quickly. She was a very easy person to speak to, someone just like us. It has been a huge honour for me to host the princess in my kitchen. I can't believe it. It's been a big responsibility.'
The future Queen also shared insights into cooking at Forest Lodge, revealing that she makes her own pasta at home. 'When I do this at home it's without a big bowl and it goes everywhere,' Kate admitted, later laughing when the handle fell off the pasta machine. 'Is there a technique for this?' she asked.
Contrast with Meghan's Spaghetti Recipe
This reception is a far cry from the Italian reaction to the Duchess of Sussex's pasta-making on her Netflix show, With Love, Meghan. Fans expressed horror over the dish she prepared with her close friend, make-up artist Daniel Martin.
Meghan explained, 'When I make this, I make it for my family,' clarifying that while her children don't eat heaps of noodles, she makes enough for leftovers in their lunchboxes. She described the dish as a throwback to her lifestyle content on her previous website, The Tig.
To make the meal, Meghan removed dry pasta from a jar and laid it into a dish with feta and cherry tomatoes already layered on the bottom. There was scant detail on measurements, except for 'an entire pack of spaghetti' and 'three and a half cups of boiling water, give or take.' After adding lots of lemon zest, she said, 'You just pour boiling water on top and that's it.' When the cooking is almost done, chard and kale are added. Meghan said she left it for 'four or five minutes until the noodle is done, al dente.'
While the final result looked tasty, many viewers were baffled by the methods. One person wrote on X: 'Netflix paid a lot of money just to let us know Meghan Markle doesn't know how to cook pasta.' Another joked: 'Next she'll show us how to make frozen pizza!' Others criticized the texture, with one saying: 'She overcooked the noodles. Slimy looking.' Another commented: 'Wtf is that? It looks like she made some sort of soup, cooked the vegetables to hell, tossed in some spaghetti and called it a day.' A user observed: 'The pasta looks fine in the end, but I think Italians screamed at their TVs when she poured water into the sauce.'
Some defended the Duchess, with one person writing: 'It looked delicious to me.' However, another moment likely annoyed Italians when Meghan repeatedly called the pasta 'noodles.'
