A source close to the Duchess of Sussex pushed back on Martha Stewart's claim that Meghan Markle was openly discussing her family's visit with King Charles at a California dinner party, but Stewart's broader critique of Markle's lifestyle credentials may sting longer than the gossip.
Stewart told People magazine that she attended a dinner party in California where Markle was also a guest, and that the Duchess had "just gotten back from the palace." Stewart said Markle was "talking about" the trip, though the two barely spoke directly.
A source close to Markle offered a different version to the Mirror. The source said Meghan had simply been asked by another guest about her "European vacation" and replied that "it was nice, and that was the extent of it." The source added: "I think she must have been confused."
The dueling accounts center on the Sussexes' recent private reunion with King Charles and Queen Camilla at Highgrove House. The Daily Mail reported that Prince Harry had reportedly agreed not to speak publicly about the visit and that no photographs would be shared. Markle later posted "a number of intimate family moments" from the broader European trip on Instagram, but nothing from Highgrove.
The careful distinction between a "European vacation" and a trip to "the palace" is worth noting. If Markle's camp wanted to downplay the royal reunion, reframing it as a casual holiday abroad would be one way to do it. Stewart, for her part, did not claim to have overheard the conversation firsthand, only that she knew Markle "was talking about it."
The dinner party dispute may be the headline, but Stewart's sharper comments targeted Markle's credibility as a lifestyle figure. In her remarks to People, Stewart offered a blunt assessment of the Duchess's career arc:
"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."
Stewart had previously told Yahoo Lifestyle that "authenticity, to me, is everything, and to be authentic and knowledgeable about your subject matter is extremely important." That earlier remark came as Markle was launching her Netflix cooking show, "With Love, Meghan." As we previously reported, Stewart has questioned whether Markle's pivot from Hollywood and royalty into the homemaking world holds up under scrutiny.
The Duchess's source told the Mirror that Meghan is actually a "fan" of Stewart. Whether the admiration runs both ways remains unclear.
Stewart's skepticism arrives at a sensitive moment for Markle's commercial ambitions. Markle renamed her lifestyle brand from "American Riviera Orchard" to "As Ever" in early 2025, publicly citing geographic limitations. But as the New York Post reported, the change was reportedly driven by trademarking problems, not the organic evolution Markle described.
Markle's Netflix show "With Love, Meghan" premiered in March 2025, and Netflix and Markle ended their As Ever brand partnership in March 2026, with Markle continuing the brand independently. The trajectory, a show launch, a forced rebrand, and a split from the streaming giant, does not suggest the kind of steady, expertise-driven brand-building that Stewart spent decades establishing.
On her birthday, Markle's As Ever brand posted a quartet of photos on social media with the caption: "Happy birthday to our founder, @meghan. Lighting No. 084 to celebrate!" The images included Markle in a Céline striped shirt and Anine Bing jeans, a throwback childhood photo, and product shots of the brand's candle line.
Markle turned 44 and marked the occasion with a burst of social media content. She posted photos of herself jumping into an outdoor pool while holding balloons and thanked followers "for the birthday love." Hours later, she uploaded Instagram Story clips of herself dancing in a tiara-like headband while a birthday song played, along with videos of the couple's two dogs, Pula and Mamma Mia, wearing paper hats.
In one clip, Prince Harry can be heard saying "oh dear" as Markle laughed and said, "Oh no, okay, let's take it off. I'm sorry." The lighthearted content stood in contrast to the day's more pointed headlines about Stewart's remarks.
The Sussexes' reunion with King Charles at Highgrove last month was itself a carefully managed affair. Harry reportedly agreed that no photographs would be shared and that neither he nor Meghan would speak publicly about the visit. The Daily Mail described the broader UK trip as "chaotic," though no further detail was provided.
Markle's Instagram posts from the European trip shared what the Daily Mail described as "intimate family moments", but pointedly included nothing from Highgrove. The omission lines up with the reported agreement, but it also raises a question: if the visit was significant enough to warrant a secrecy pact, was it really just a casual "European vacation" barely worth mentioning at dinner?
During the UK visit, Prince Harry reportedly took the couple's children to a billionaire's private Scottish island, adding another layer to a trip the Duchess's camp now characterizes as unremarkable.
One detail worth flagging: Stewart made her comments to People magazine, which the Daily Mail described as "one of the Sussexes' preferred publications in the US." If Stewart chose that outlet deliberately, the move put her remarks squarely in front of the audience most sympathetic to Markle, making the critique harder to dismiss as tabloid overreach.
The Daily Mail also noted that it contacted Meghan's representatives for comment. Whether they received a response was not reported. The denial came instead through an unnamed source speaking to the Mirror, a British outlet, a geographic split in media strategy that has become familiar in royal family communications.
Stewart, for all her directness, kept her critique focused on the professional question. She did not attack Markle personally. She questioned whether a career that runs from acting to royalty to homemaking television follows any coherent logic, and whether the expertise is real. That is a fair question for any consumer to ask, and one Markle's camp has yet to answer with anything more convincing than a scented candle and an unnamed source.
In a world full of personal brands built on image rather than substance, the market eventually sorts out who knows what they are talking about, and who is just talking.
