Martha Stewart cast doubt on Meghan Markle's credibility as a lifestyle and cooking personality, telling People magazine that the career arc from actress to princess to "homemaking guru" simply "doesn't sort of follow."
Stewart, 85, said she recently attended a dinner party in California where Markle was also a guest. The Duchess of Sussex, 45, had just returned from a trip to the United Kingdom with Prince Harry and their two children. Stewart told People she exchanged only a few words with Markle but was aware of the conversation around her latest ventures.
The cookbook author's skepticism was pointed. Stewart told People:
"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."
It was not the first time Stewart raised the question. In July 2025, she told Yahoo Lifestyle that she hoped Markle "knows what she's talking about" and offered a broader principle about the space Markle was trying to enter.
"Authenticity, to me, is everything, and to be authentic and knowledgeable about your subject matter is extremely important."
Stewart added at the time that she didn't "mind" the idea of having successors in the lifestyle world and wished them "good luck." The well-wishes carried an edge, a polite way of saying credentials matter more than celebrity.
Stewart is not alone in questioning the fit. When Markle's Netflix series "With Love, Meghan" premiered on March 4, it drew overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics. PR experts weighed in with sharper assessments of why the show felt hollow compared to established lifestyle brands.
Doug Eldridge, a PR expert, framed the core problem in blunt terms. As the New York Post reported:
"Authenticity is like humidity, you can't see it, but you can walk in a room and feel it. It's also critical for what Markle is trying to accomplish. Authenticity fosters relatability, which in turn creates likability, all of which are needed for marketability."
Ryan McCormick of Goldman McCormick PR made a similar observation, noting that Markle "appears guarded most of the time" and that it "can be challenging for a viewer to bond with an individual like this compared to one who is engaging and open."
One detail undercut the show's premise from the beginning: it was filmed at a rental property, not at the Montecito home where Markle and Harry actually live. Critics pointed to the choice as a symbol of the gap between the brand's image and reality.
Netflix renewed "With Love, Meghan" for a second season despite the poor reviews, and Markle reportedly received an Emmy nomination for the show. But renewal and nominations do not answer the question Stewart keeps raising, whether Markle has the depth of knowledge to sustain a lifestyle empire built on cooking, hosting, and homemaking.
Markle launched her lifestyle, cooking, and hosting brand weeks after the Netflix series debuted. The brand was originally called "American Riviera Orchard" but was renamed "As Ever" after trademark complications, an early stumble that did little to inspire confidence in the venture's foundation.
The broader challenge for Markle is one of public perception. She and Harry quit the royal family in January 2020 and moved from Canada to California by March of that year. The couple's relationship with the Royal Family has remained turbulent, marked by public grievances, media battles, and strained reunions.
Their most recent UK trip included bringing their two children to see King Charles. Harry reportedly took the children to a billionaire's private Scottish island during the visit, the kind of detail that reinforces a lifestyle brand's credibility problem. It is difficult to sell relatability from behind velvet ropes.
Stewart, by contrast, built her empire over decades with cookbooks, a television show, a magazine, and a retail line, all grounded in demonstrated expertise. She went to prison, came back, and kept cooking. The "Martha Stewart Show" and later "Martha & Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party" drew audiences because viewers trusted that Stewart could actually do what she was showing them.
That trust is what the PR experts and Stewart herself keep circling back to. Markle's polarizing public image, shaped by a high-profile interview with Oprah Winfrey, ongoing tensions with the palace, and a lifestyle that bears no resemblance to her audience's daily reality, creates a gap that production values alone cannot close.
Stewart's comments were not personal attacks. She did not question Markle's character or motives. She questioned the logic of the career path itself, and whether someone can credibly claim authority in a field she entered only recently, after a career defined by acting and royal celebrity.
The ongoing turmoil between the Sussexes and the Royal Family only complicates the picture. Every palace headline pulls attention away from jam recipes and table settings. Every public dispute reminds the audience that Markle's fame rests on a royal exit, not a mastery of domestic arts.
Stewart kept her critique simple: the trajectory doesn't track. Actress to princess to homemaking guru is not a career ladder. It's a series of reinventions, each one asking the audience to forget the last.
In the lifestyle space, audiences follow people who have spent years earning the right to teach. Stewart did the work. The question she's posing, politely, but unmistakably, is whether Markle has done the same, or whether she's banking on a title and a Netflix deal to skip the line.
