When the Duchess of Sussex lived in the UK, the British media was OBSESSED with pocket-watching her and screaming about how much her clothes and jewelry cost. They acted like Meghan was personally robbing British taxpayers all so she could drape herself in diamonds and gold. When really, as we know now, most of what we saw her wear in the UK was stuff she purchased herself, on her dime, long before she even met Harry. I’m sure she bought new pieces, obviously (no American woman has that many fruity hats in their closet), but overall, the message was “how dare a Black woman have nice things!!” What’s especially crazy is that even though the British media has been robbed of their justification – “she’s a working royal, we’re paying for her clothes” – they’re still pocket-watching her and they’re still raging about the cost of everything she wears. Like… y’all aren’t paying for it, why are you so upset? Which brings me to this new Daily Mail story, where they’re crying about the cost of her jewelry in her latest Instagram video, where she’s making pasta at home.
Meghan Markle opted for more than £237,000 worth of jewellery while whipping up a pasta dish on Tuesday. The Duchess of Sussex, who resides in Montecito, appeared to be in high spirits as she flaunted her opulent jewellery collection on her latest Instagram video.
Getting into the Italian spirit, she set the clip to Annette Funicello’s Mia Cara, Mia Amore and showed off her cooking prowess by dicing up the fruit along with garlic and basil all while being weighed down by her impressive stack of gold accessories. While most home chefs will remove their gems before getting stuck in, Meghan decided to cook up a storm in her diamonds, gold Cartier jewellery and her weighty engagement ring.
On one hand, the former senior royal – who wore a crisp white shirt to cook her Mediterranean dish – sported Princess Diana’s Cartier Tank Française watch, worth £17,800 ($24,020), which was gifted to her after she married Prince Harry. She stacked this on top of her 18-carat gold Cartier Love bracelet which retails for around £7,050 ($9,513). The bracelet’s screw motif symbolises eternal love, with a unique closure that locks around the wrist, representing lasting commitment.
Meghan was also seen wearing her £2,370 ($3,197) Jennifer Meyer mini bezel tennis bracelet, which is handcrafted from polished 18-carat yellow gold and was designed by Tobey Maguire’s ex-wife. Viewers may have clocked a sizeable jewel glistening on the former actress’ finger. This is her £120,000 ($161,922) engagement ring which Prince Harry used to propose to her in 2017, a year before they married.
He designed a bespoke engagement ring, featuring a cushion-cut diamond from Botswana, symbolising their first holiday together. The ring also included two smaller round diamonds from Princess Diana’s personal collection, ensuring his late mother’s presence in their journey.
Initially crafted by Cleave & Company, Queen Elizabeth’s trusted jeweller, the ring featured a simple gold band and was valued at around £120,000. However, less than two years later, Harry commissioned Lorraine Schwartz to resize and reset the ring with a new diamond band, which Meghan first wore at Trooping the Colour in 2019. Meghan stacked this on top of her £10,000 ($13,493) wedding band, which was crafted from Welsh gold and was gifted to her from the late Queen, as in keeping with royal tradition.Meghan was also seen donning her eternity ring, which retails for £80,000 ($107,947), and first caught the eye of royal watchers when she first wore it in 2019. Placed alongside her wedding band and engagement ring, the eternity ring holds deep personal meaning as it was a gift from Harry to mark their first wedding anniversary. Crafted with conflict-free diamonds, the ring features the birthstones of Meghan, Archie and Harry, subtly set on its underside: a green peridot, green emerald and blue sapphire.
All of the timelessly elegant pieces Meghan wore in the video to cook her Italian dish added up to an eye-watering £237,220 ($320,091).
This obsession amuses me at this point. The Mail managed to avoid writing “HOW DARE SHE” but it was the subtext, alongside a sort of bittersweet nostalgia for what could have been. They could have been shouting “how dare she” from the rooftops if only they hadn’t abused her to the point of exile. Anyway, it’s not like Meghan wore her jewelry this way especially for an IG video. She wears those pieces every day. She’s known for her ring stack and her bracelet stack, although she changes up her bracelet stack with some frequency. An alternate Daily Mail headline, in an alternate universe, could have been “California woman wears her own jewelry in her own kitchen.”
Duchess Meghan threw together a pasta dish with garlic & lemon preserves https://t.co/QfvHxuhKpP pic.twitter.com/QNadCk3Btc
— celebitchy (@celebitchy) August 20, 2025
Photos courtesy of Meghan’s IG and As Ever’s IG.
