Welcome back, Meghan! Pregnant Duchess of Sussex returns clad in Club Monaco to help cook at London soup kitchen

The pregnant Duchess of Sussex today made an emotional return visit to a community kitchen which inspired her collaborative work on a Grenfell Tower charity cookbook, telling the women: ‘I’m so proud of you.’

Meghan went to the Hubb Community Kitchen, not far from the site of the deadly tower block blaze in West London, to see first hand the progress made since the Together cookbook went on sale in September.

The mother-to-be was greeted warmly by kitchen co-ordinator Zaheera Sufyaan – whom she gave a big hug – and Abdurahman Sayed, chief executive of the Al Manaar Muslim Cultural Centre in North Kensington.

Meghan, who has been making private visits to the kitchen since January, quickly abandoned any formality when she got inside. She threw her arms around each of the women and kissed them, chattering excitedly about what they had been up to since she last saw them. ‘Hi, how are you? Wow, it’s so quiet in here,’ she said, giggling.

Wearing a burgundy dress and coat by Club Monaco, a Canadian company now owned by US fashion giant Polo Ralph Lauren, Meghan soon put on an apron, rolled up her sleeves and got stuck into helping prepare food.

She said to a group of women: ‘It starts from one idea and from this one idea starts so much. I’m so proud of you.’

The book – full title Together: Our Community Cookbook – took the number one spot on Amazon within hours of being unveiled two months ago and has since sold nearly 40,000 copies in the UK, raising £210,000.

Bumper sales of the cookbook, which features more than 50 recipes from women whose community was affected by the fire, have allowed a total makeover of the kitchen as well as longer opening hours.

Meghan, who suggested the idea of a fundraising cookbook when she first met the women, has previously described it as a ‘tremendous labour of love’.

The kitchen, redesigned with the women’s input to capture its spirit as a place for the community to come together over meals, now opens seven days a week, up from just two when it began last year.

Those involved have also been able to obtain food hygiene qualifications and been empowered to start their own projects for the benefit of the wider community.

Projects, supported by the social entrepreneur foundation UnLtd, include a group for women affected by domestic violence, a scheme to deliver freshly cooked meals for women on maternity wards, and a project to produce healthy treats for children.

Today, 200 meals being prepared in the kitchen were destined for local groups, including elderly people’s homes, homeless shelters and women’s refuges. The dishes include Egyptian lamb fattah, Persian chicken and barberry rice.

The meals she helped prepare today included rainbow roasted vegetables, a recipe in the book from Ahlam Saeid, an Iraqi chemist, who stood chatting to the Duchess as she mixed the vegetables.

Meghan drank ginger tea as she spoke to some of the women who have been motivated to go on and develop further projects including making healthy snacks for children, and preparing food for the homeless.

She also introduced chef Clare Smyth, a friend of hers, to the volunteers in the kitchen. Smiling, Meghan said: ‘I’m so proud of you. It’s really exciting.’

The people involved in the kitchen are ‘incredible’, said Ms Smyth, who visited the kitchen for the first time with Meghan.

The Co Antrim-born chef, who now lives in London and has a restaurant near the community facility, said: ‘If everyone took care of their community like this there would be no issues in the world.’

Ms Smith said Meghan had spoken with passion about the kitchen. ‘She’s really into food, she’s a real foodie.’

The team set out to raise £250,000 to renovate the kitchen and open it seven days a week and expect to easily surpass that, especially with Christmas coming up.

Supported by The Royal Foundation and published by Penguin Random House companies, Together has raised enough funds for the kitchen to be completely redesigned and re-fitted, with the women’s input, to capture what has been described as their ‘joyful spirit’.

Over the summer last year, a group of women gathered in a communal kitchen at the Al Manaar community centre, where they could prepare fresh food for their families, friends and neighbours affected by the disaster.

As they cooked together and shared recipes, as a community they began to connect, heal and look forward. Word spread and more women joined in – and this was the start of the Hubb kitchen.

The new facilities provide a safe and professional space for the women to cook, gather and run activities within their community. Previously the kitchen was only able to open two days a week due to funding.

But the women are now able to use the kitchen seven days a week, and have been trained to gain food hygiene qualifications and empowered to start their own projects, which will help others in their community benefit.

The duchess, who has made regular private visits to the kitchen since January, met the women as they prepared fresh meals for the local community in the newly renovated kitchen.

The women were preparing 200 meals in just one day, to be delivered to local groups, including elderly people’s homes, homeless shelters and women’s refuges.

They are also now working on their own projects including a group for women affected by domestic violence, a scheme to deliver nutritious, freshly cooked meals for women on maternity wards, and a project to produce healthy treats for children.

Meghan, whose first baby with her husband, Prince Harry, is due in the spring, also heard about the women’s long-term vision for the kitchen, and how they hope to use future proceeds to reach out to more people in their community.

Kensington Palace said today that since the book was published in September, the ‘inclusive ethos of Together has resonated all over the world, and inspired people not just to buy the book, but to cook, eat and gather in their own communities’.

Together reached number one on Amazon.co.uk book chart within hours of being announced, and has appeared in the Sunday Times and New York Times Bestseller lists, selling tens of thousands of copies since its release.