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00:01Hello and welcome to Royal Watch. I'm joined by Royal Editor Emily Nash and today we're going to be catching
00:07up on all the royal news from this week, including how the Duchess of Sussex is branching out on her
00:13own and we'll also be finding out what Prince William is up to.
00:16So Emily, Meghan, there's been some big news about her this week hasn't there?
00:21There has been some very exciting news. So a lot of us have been waiting since the Royal Wedding to
00:26hear what her first charity project was going to be and what she was turning her focus to as a
00:33working member of the Royal Family.
00:35And the answer is this, a beautifully produced, completed project.
00:39And that's Meghan.
00:40That's Meghan on the front. This is a cookbook called Together, Our Community Cookbook.
00:45And it's what I think is quite a genius idea by the Duchess herself.
00:51Basically, in the time that she was preparing for her wedding at the beginning of this year, she was also
00:56making secret visits to the Grenfell Tower area,
00:59where there was this awful tragedy last year in which 72 people lost their lives.
01:04And Meghan came across a group of women who were calling themselves the Hub Community Kitchen.
01:09And they basically were using the facilities at a local community centre to cook fresh food, meals for their families,
01:17having either been displaced from the tower or knowing people who have been affected by it.
01:22And what she recognised immediately in this group of women was their sort of power as mums, you know,
01:28and as matriarchs to bring the community back together and find some sort of positive out of this terrible tragedy.
01:37But she discovered that they could only afford to operate the kitchen, which is at the Almanar Islamic Cultural Centre,
01:43two days a week.
01:45And the reason is because of a lack of funding.
01:47So she came up with a brainwave, which was that they should create their own cookery book, using recipes from
01:53all over the world.
01:54You know, a lot of these women are from different ethnic backgrounds.
01:59And so they're bringing to the table, quite literally, meals that they've enjoyed and their ancestors have enjoyed from all
02:06over the world.
02:07And I think it's something that really struck a chord with Meghan.
02:10We know she's a real foodie. She wrote a lot about food on her blog, The Tig.
02:15And in fact, Prince Harry famously proposed to her as they were roasting a chicken.
02:20Yeah.
02:21But the fact that she's also from overseas and she writes in this book, in the forward,
02:27she's written quite a lengthy, very interesting forward about how food brings back positive memories for her of her hometown
02:36of L.A.
02:37and, you know, other elements of American culture.
02:41So, you know, it's really quite a genius move by her, I think.
02:46It ticks a lot of boxes in terms of her interest in supporting women, empowering women.
02:52You've got the cookery angle in there, which is brilliant.
02:54But it's also raising money.
02:56And it's something that's being managed through the Royal Foundation, of which she's now the fourth patron.
03:00And as of the day it was available for pre-order, which was Monday, it was a number one bestseller.
03:07Wow.
03:07So I anticipate they'll have shifted probably all 50,000 copies they were hoping to sell,
03:13which will enable that kitchen to operate seven days a week.
03:16Okay.
03:17And presumably once those 50,000 copies sell out, there will be more copies available.
03:22I think if there's demand, I'm sure, you know, it's published by Ebreed Press,
03:27which is an imprint of Penguin Random House.
03:29And I'm sure they are looking into doing that because there's huge interest in this on social media.
03:35Kensington Palace issued a very comprehensive press pack,
03:38which came as a bit of a surprise because none of us were aware of this project.
03:42And in fact, it's quite incredible.
03:44They managed to keep it secret all this time.
03:46And she was paying secret visits to those kitchens, wasn't she, over the past few months.
03:50And actually it's really surprising that hasn't leaked out because these days with social media,
03:54it's very difficult to keep anyone's movements secret.
03:57There were some stories earlier in the year about her secretly visiting the Grenville survivors,
04:02but nobody knew exactly what she was doing.
04:05So you have this, again, you can't really see here, but more pictures of her.
04:08And what happened was she turned up to meet these women and they put her to work straight away,
04:13gave her an apron and made her wash rice.
04:15And she quickly got stuck into what they were doing.
04:19And apparently she's adopted at least one of the recipes as a new favourite at home.
04:23She's making the avocado dip for Prince Harry.
04:25And tomorrow we're going to see them both at Kensington Palace hosting these lovely ladies for a celebratory lunch.
04:32So just a really lovely, uplifting story.
04:35And a kind of a real pointer to, or a flavour of what's to come from Meghan.
04:39You know, she seems to be very keen to pick these quite small grassroots charities to support.
04:45And, you know, clearly when she puts her mind to something, she really gets things going.
04:50Yeah.
04:50And she, I mean, this is one of a couple of solo projects that we've heard about this week.
04:56So that's right.
04:57So far we haven't seen her do, have we seen her do anything without Prince Harry before?
05:02Or is this the first?
05:03No, no.
05:03So this is the first.
05:04So the images that were released earlier in this week are just of her and the women.
05:09Tomorrow he'll be with her, obviously supporting her.
05:11He's probably a very proud husband, I expect.
05:13But next week she also has a solo outing, which is to the Royal Academy,
05:18where there's going to be an exhibition called Oceania, or Oceania, Oceania, I think.
05:22It's a celebration of art from the Pacific cultures.
05:26So Polynesia, Micronesia, Melanesia.
05:29And, of course, these are places that she and Harry are going to visit next month.
05:33So Fiji and Tonga are included, New Zealand, Australia.
05:37So she's, you know, grabbing the bull by the horns and getting out there very early.
05:41You know, they've only been married four months.
05:44Yeah.
05:44And already she's, I mean, she did say, I want to hit the ground running.
05:47Exactly.
05:47So she's doing that, isn't she?
05:49She's definitely a woman of her word.
05:50And she doesn't need, I mean, she's always said, I don't, you know,
05:52she didn't want to be just, you know, seen as somebody's accessory.
05:57Not a lady who lunches.
05:58Although, I mean, she's going to be lunching tomorrow.
06:00Yes, exactly.
06:00But for an incredibly good cause.
06:02Yeah, yeah.
06:02But she's used to, I mean, she's very independent, isn't she?
06:05She's been used to doing things on her own for a long time.
06:07That's right.
06:08And so this is the next step, really, for her.
06:10Exactly, exactly.
06:11And I gather she was very heavily involved throughout the planning of this
06:15and the production of it.
06:17So, I mean, I'd love to hear whether she's going to talk more about it tomorrow.
06:21Yeah.
06:22But another, an outing for her next week as well.
06:24So I think this is the beginning of a very busy period for her.
06:27Yeah, absolutely.
06:28Will this, because I know a lot of our viewers to this live are from overseas.
06:34Yes.
06:35Is this book going to be available in other countries?
06:36It's been available on Amazon this week.
06:40Right.
06:40Obviously, there are lots of other retailers out there.
06:42But if you go to the website for Ebre Press, or in fact, if you look at the Royal Foundation's
06:48website, there's a lot more information there on how to get hold of the book.
06:52And I imagine it's going to be reprinted all over the place.
06:56Yeah, I'm sure it's going to sell more than 50,000 copies the world over.
07:00I'm sure.
07:00Exactly.
07:00So that's a really great project.
07:02And so Megan's out again, is it next week?
07:05She's out with Harry, and she has an engagement with Harry on the Monday, which is, sorry,
07:12which is to the University of Loughborough, where they're going to be looking at young
07:16people who are developing their confidence through sport.
07:20And then the following day, she's going to this exhibition.
07:23Okay, so it's good to see more of those too, isn't it?
07:25We never get tired of it.
07:26And of course, the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate, is still on maternity leave.
07:31She is.
07:31But William is holding the force, isn't he?
07:32William's had a very busy week.
07:35So interestingly, we know Kate's obviously very committed to children, improving their
07:39wellbeing, looking at how you can intervene early in a child's life to prevent them having
07:44problems later on.
07:46But it's something obviously that William is also very keenly interested in.
07:49And yesterday, he was in the West Midlands meeting graduates of his Prince William Award,
07:55which has been set up by a charity, Skillforce, that he works with.
08:00And this programme has been designed to build children's resilience and confidence and their character.
08:07And it's run largely by former military people as their instructors and mentors.
08:13And it's about giving the children, you know, a bit of strength and confidence to stand up to bullying,
08:21things like that, but also to protect and, you know, preserve their own mental health going forward.
08:26So it's really an interesting project.
08:29And seven and a half thousand children have just graduated through it.
08:32So they had a lovely award ceremony, which David Walliams, the comedian, was hosting.
08:38And I think he poked quite a lot of fun at the Prince.
08:41I think he introduced him as not the ginger one, but he is the most important.
08:45Yeah.
08:46So, yeah, I think the kids really enjoyed that.
08:49William seemed to be in his element.
08:51And he also paid a really moving visit to a place called the Acorn Children's Hospice in Selly Oak in
08:57Birmingham.
08:57And that was open 30 years ago this year by his mother, Princess Diana.
09:02And it was interesting to hear from some of the women and other staff working there who remembered her visit
09:08in 1988.
09:10And, you know, basically said how much he's inherited from her, his ability to connect with children,
09:16his whole approach, you know, gets down on his knees to chat to little people and just shows, you know,
09:23a very caring dimension,
09:24which obviously Diana was famous for, as is his father, the Prince of Wales.
09:29So it's really lovely to see him following in her footsteps.
09:32And something that I think was quite an emotional moment for the people who founded the hospice all those years
09:37ago.
09:37Yeah, yeah. So some of those staff are still there 30 years on.
09:41That's right. They are. And they have very fond memories of it.
09:43And in fact, William was there and he signed the visitors book and unveiled a plaque in front of a
09:49photograph,
09:50a signed photograph of his mother from from 1988.
09:53Yeah.
09:53And I think, you know, it meant a great deal to the families of children there.
09:58They're all children with, you know, life limiting terminal illnesses or serious, serious illnesses.
10:04And they're already in a very, you know, facing very challenging circumstances.
10:10So something like a royal visit that puts them on the map and supports the charity funding the hospice is
10:15a great thing.
10:16Yeah. And it really lifts those children, doesn't it?
10:18You know, whenever you see those royal visits in hospitals and particularly children's wards,
10:22it really does bring a ray of sunshine to their day, doesn't it?
10:25You're right. I'm very excited.
10:27And William obviously has his own children these days.
10:29So he was swapping notes with some of the kids there.
10:31I think some children were drawing dinosaurs.
10:33So he's telling them all about how George is obsessed with dinosaurs and they've been learning all about them.
10:38So he can really bring his expertise as a parent to the table as well now, which is nice.
10:44Yeah. OK. And is there anything else happening this week?
10:48There is. I'd say just another thing to mention that William did was he stopped off at Stourbridge to unveil
10:54a statue to a brilliant MI6 British spy called Major Frank Foley,
11:00who managed to save 10,000 Jews from the Nazis because of his cover job, which was a British passport
11:07control officer in Berlin during the war.
11:10So it's somebody who's perhaps not had the recognition he deserved over the years.
11:14That was a really special moment for his descendants, his family and the people of Stourbridge.
11:19So I think that was a lovely moment for William as well.
11:22Obviously, he has occasionally visited the Secret Services, we know, and he will be, as a future monarch, kept up
11:30to speed with all sorts of things that are going on behind the scenes.
11:33And these people play a key role in keeping us all safe.
11:37So that was a really interesting thing for him.
11:40This weekend, as of Monday, he's heading off to Africa on a private working visit.
11:46He's going to Namibia, Kenya and Tanzania.
11:49And he's going to be promoting a wildlife conference that's coming up in London next month, which is against the
11:56illegal wildlife trade, something that's really close to his heart.
11:59But for him to get out there and talk to the people who are directly affected by poaching and things
12:05like that will be really interesting.
12:07And I gather the government has tasked him with making a couple of official engagements while he's there as well.
12:13So he's no downtime, no downtime for a busy prince.
12:16Yeah. So essentially, it's a private visit, charity visit, but he'll be doing official business.
12:20So we'll be seeing pictures next week?
12:22We will see images, yes.
12:23It's not going to be a tour covered by the Travelling UK media, as most of them are.
12:29But I gather, you know, it's such a busy autumn.
12:32Yeah.
12:32There are already two major tours happening later next month.
12:36Yeah.
12:37And the following month.
12:38So, yeah, I think they're just going to plough ahead and feed stuff back into us.
12:42And possibly we may see Kate back next month.
12:45That's been the rumour for quite some time.
12:47That is the rumour.
12:48Are we expecting to see her back anytime soon?
12:49I would be very surprised if we don't see her in some way involved in the incoming state visit of
12:54the Queen and King of the Netherlands.
12:56So that's Willem, Alexander and Queen Maxima.
12:59So that could be a lovely tiara moment for all you Royal Fashion fans.
13:03I'd expect, hopefully, William and Kate to join the Queen at the state dinner.
13:07And I think they'll also be attending some engagements to mark the Prince of Wales' 70th birthday.
13:14So watch this space.
13:16Okay.
13:16So that's all for now.
13:17And we'll be back next week to bring you the latest updates.
13:21Thanks for watching.
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