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By Jack Royston
Chief Royal Correspondent
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Lifestyle guru Martha Stewart said in an interview that Meghan Markle discussed her visit to "the palace" at a California dinner party, in a saga with echoes of past royal leak scandals.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex recently brought Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet to the United Kingdom, where they went to see King Charles III at Highgrove, his private residence in the west of England.
Stewart told People in an interview published on August 5 that she saw Meghan at a recent dinner party when the duchess had "just gotten back from the palace" and "was talking about it." Stewart did not make clear whether Meghan was talking about meeting Charles specifically or simply the trip to the U.K.
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Why It Matters
In his 2023 memoir, Harry accused Queen Camilla of leaking information as part of what he described as "a campaign aimed at marriage and eventually the Crown," in which he also implicated a PR adviser. However, the palace and a member of Camilla's staff at the time offered a different explanation: that the information had simply emerged accidentally through word-of-mouth.
While Newsweek understands that Meghan did not divulge any royal family secrets, Stewart's dinner party anecdote demonstrates the ease with which off-the-cuff remarks among friends can inadvertently filter back to the media. The saga raises questions about Harry's past assertions, and the existence of leaks suggests strategic intent by the royal in question.
What Martha Stewart Said About Meghan
Stewart told People: "I had dinner with Meghan Markle the other night. We were both guests at a dinner party in California. And she had just gotten back from the palace. I didn’t talk to her really more than to say a couple words, but I know she was talking about it."
Stewart was also asked what she thought of Meghan's transition into lifestyle through her Netflix show With Love, Meghan and linked online shop, As Ever.
"If you’re an actress," she said, "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."
Meghan's visit to see Charles at Highgrove was part of a bigger summer vacation that also included stays in Portugal, as well as Princess Diana's ancestral home at Althorp, in England, and Scotland.
Stewart did not elaborate on whether Meghan was talking about the time she spent with the king specifically, but the reference to "palace" was interpreted by some outlets as suggesting Stewart was referring to Meghan's meeting with Charles rather than the wider trip. Newsweek understands Meghan was asked about her European vacation more generally.
The Sun ran the headline: "MEGHIN MOVES Meghan boasted about trip to palace and meeting with King & Queen at US dinner party, TV legend Martha Stewart claims."
Australian outlet Nine.com.au ran the headline: "‘She was talking about it’: Meghan caught discussing royal reunion at party."
While those interpretations of Stewart's meaning may have stretched further than the facts allow, the chain of events is a familiar one from past scandals.
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Prince Harry and Royal Privacy
In January 2023, Harry was asked during a 60 Minutes interview why he was going public with his criticisms of the monarchy in his memoir, Spare, shortly before its release.
"Every single time I've tried to do it privately," he said, "there have been briefings and leakings and planting of stories against me and my wife. You know, the family motto is never complain, never explain. But it's just a motto. And it doesn't really hold."
Harry was accusing the palace of deliberate leaks to achieve a strategic purpose, and he made similar allegations in Spare in relation to Queen Camilla, dating back to when she was still Camilla Parker-Bowles and had met Harry and William for the first time.
"Shortly after our private summits with her," Harry wrote, "she began to play the long game, a campaign aimed at marriage and eventually the Crown. (With Pa’s blessing, we presumed.)
"Stories began to appear everywhere, in all the papers, about her private conversation with Willy, stories that contained pinpoint accurate details, none of which had come from Willy, of course. They could only have been leaked by the one other person present.
"And the leaking had obviously been abetted by the new spin doctor Camilla had talked Pa into hiring."
The story about Camilla's meetings with William and Harry was published in The Sun in 1998, triggering an inquiry that concluded Camilla's personal assistant, Amanda MacManus, had inadvertently been responsible for the disclosure. MacManus subsequently resigned.
Quoted by the BBC at the time, MacManus said: "As the person responsible for this unhappy train of events, I cannot with honour remain in this position."
Her husband, James, was at the time managing director of Times Supplements, part of Rupert Murdoch's U.K. media division, News International, and he described the sequence of events: "I mentioned to a trusted third party, unconnected with journalism or News International, certain information which was then, to my great regret, passed on to The Sun."
Harry's book did not mention this inquiry or its result. It is unclear whether he had forgotten these explanations or did not believe them, but the fact Meghan is now subject to a spate of headlines caused by an off-the-cuff remark at a dinner party echoes the format of the MacManus saga.
Takeaway
It is not clear exactly what Meghan said at the dinner party, though Newsweek understands her comments were fleeting and about her holiday in general rather than any royal family secrets.
There is also nothing to suggest she authorized Stewart to talk about it publicly. The known facts appear consistent with her simply having spoken among friends, not realizing the discussion would later be relayed to a magazine by someone present.
The 1998 leak inquiry suggested the MacManus episode similarly involved information reaching the media through an indirect chain of communication rather than through an intentional briefing by the principal involved.
Irrespective of whether the headlines were fair, the saga does appear to support the palace argument that some leaked stories are accidental and not part of a deliberate strategy.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly and Sam Wilson.
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