Meghan Markle has donated £8,000 from the proceeds of her Together recipe book to a British charity offering cookery classes led by migrants and refugees.
Migrateful, a London-based project, announced the news on Twitter, explaining: ‘We’re so excited to share that we have received a donation of £8000 from The Royal Foundation on behalf of The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle!’
A source close to the Duke, 35, and Duchess of Sussex, 38, who are currently living in Tyler Perry’s $14 million mansion having stepped back from royal duty, confirmed to Hello magazine that the funds came from the proceeds from the Together cookbook, which is still part of the Royal Foundation.
The Together cookbook, which contains 50 kitchen favourites from women from the Grenfell community, was launched in September 2018 as the Duchess’s first major solo endeavour as a member of the royal family.
Meghan Markle, 38, has donated £8,000 to a London-based project Migrateful, which runs cookery classes led by refugees. The funds came from proceeds raised by her first major royal project, the Together cookbook (pictured, visiting the Hubb kitchen in November 2018)
Announcing the generous donation online, Migrateful explained: ‘We are immensely grateful for this donation which will go towards supporting the Migrateful mission.’
The organisation’s website explains how it ‘runs cookery classes led by refugees, asylum seekers and migrants struggling to integrate and access employment.
‘The cookery classes provide ideal conditions not just for learning English and building confidence, but also for promoting contact and cultural exchange with the wider community.’
It continues: ‘Due to legal, linguistic and social barriers, finding work can be extremely difficult for many migrants.
The funds were donated from the Royal Foundation on behalf of the Duchess, who is currently living in Los Angeles having stepped back from royal duty in March
The organisation announced the news on Twitter over the weekend, adding that they felt ‘immensely grateful’ for the donation
‘Migrateful’s mission is to empower and celebrate refugees and vulnerable migrants on their journey to integration, by supporting them to run their own cookery classes.’
The generous donation came from proceeds raised from the Hubb’s Together cookbook, which was Meghan’s first major royal project.
Meghan released Together: Our Community Cookbook to help Grenfell survivors in September 2018.
The recipes proved popular and 38,811 copies were sold in the first two months.
The cookbook made £557,638 for the Grenfell survivors of the Hubb Community Kitchen, and the royal charity invested £232,551 to help them further.
According to The Telegraph, the royal charity spent £204,031 on refurbishing the kitchen, and a further £28,520 on training and development schemes.
The couple have returned to the Hubb Community Kitchen a number of times in the year since, on both private and public engagements. Members of the community have spoken out to thank Harry and Meghan for their ongoing support.
The most recent visit came in January on their return from their Canadian hiatus and before their public engagement at London’s Canada House.
The donation comes after Prince Harry and Meghan formally axed their royal charitable foundation in another symbolic split from the Royal family.
Documents filed at Companies House last week confirmed they are winding up the company behind the Sussex Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
The donation comes as the Duke and Duchess formally axed their royal foundation as they step away from royal duty
The Sussex foundation was only incorporated on July 1 last year following Meghan and Harry’s decision to split from the foundation that they previously shared with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
After announcing they were launching a new charity Archewell in the US back in April, the couple said they were ‘looking forward’ to getting started with the foundation, which will replace their Sussex Royal brand.
The move to dissolve the Foundation had not been unexpected and follows the Queen’s decision that Harry and Meghan can no longer use the word ‘royal’ in their branding.
The couple moved to Los Angeles with baby Archie to start their new life after they were forced to choose between financial independence or remaining as working members of the royal family.