The Duchess of Sussex made secret trips to a community mosque to cook with Grenfell Tower victims after the horrifying inferno that left 72 dead, it emerged today as she helped to release a new cookbook. In her first solo project as a member of the royal family, Meghan Markle has written the foreword to the new book produced by cooks from the Hubb Community Kitchen, an initiative based near the site of the West London tower.
The Duchess, who said she 'immediately felt connected' to the kitchen at the Al Manaar cultural centre, first visited in January and has made other secret trips to the centre to meet volunteers and learn more about their work. Melding cultural identities under a shared roof, it creates a space to feel a sense of normalcy - in its simplest form, the universal need to connect, nurture, and commune through food, through crisis or joy - something we can all relate to. Through this charitable endeavour, the proceeds will allow the kitchen to thrive and keep the global spirit of community alive.'Some of the recipes are family favourites and all have been created by the cooks who support not only residents affected by the Grenfell fire but others in the community. In the introduction, the women of the Hubb Community Kitchen wrote: 'Our kitchen has always been a place of good food, love, support and friendship. 'We cook the recipes we've grown up with; there's no stress, and the recipes always work because they have been made so many times – it's proper comfort food…'Swapping family recipes and moments of laughter gave us a sense of normality and home. 'We named ourselves the Hubb Community Kitchen to celebrate the thing that we all feel every time we meet – hubb means love in Arabic.'Meghan helped put the group in touch with a publisher and her Royal Foundation provided assistance with legal and administrative issues.
One of the contributors to the book, Munira Mahmud, 34, said she and her friends had approached Al-Manaar to ask if they could use the kitchen there and the Hubb project arose out of it'Last summer, we were placed in a hotel and I had no kitchen to cook for my family,' Ms Mahmud wrote. 'It was very emotional for me to get in the kitchen. The moment I started cooking I was in tears. 'I didn't know why though. I was just excited to be back in the kitchen again.'Word started to spread - the mums from my son's school came along and they told their friends, too. Soon there were women from different cultures all cooking, swapping recipes, talking and laughing together.'The duchess is photographed on the front of the book helping out and Ms Mahmud said the royal had been happy to join in.'She wore an apron,' she wrote. 'I can't believe I made her wash rice! After we said that we could only use the kitchen twice a week due to funding, she mentioned, 'How about sharing your recipes with other people? And that's how it happened.'All proceeds will go back to the Hubb and the book will be available from this Thursday.
Baroness Rebuck DBE, chair of Penguin Random House, said: 'We were instantly caught up by the extraordinary vision for this project with the women of the Hubb Community Kitchen. Every woman who has contributed a recipe to this book has also contributed a fragment of their lives and memories. Each dish tells a story of culture, family and a sense of home.'But most of all 'Together' is a homage to life and friendship and we hope it will act as a symbol to all communities and encourage cooking together for life and joy.'The dishes described in the book are the women's own personal recipes from across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean.The Royal Foundation is administering the transfer of funds from the sale of the book to the Hubb Community Kitchen and related projects.Last week it was revealed that more than 1,200 people traumatised by the Grenfell fire received mental health treatment in the year after the blaze, according to figures from Central and North West London NHS Trust.
Another 126 patients with long-term mental health problems had their conditions worsened by the blaze in North Kensington on June 14 last year, which claimed the lives of 72 people. The news comes days after the formal opening of the St Charles Health and Wellbeing Centre, where those affected by Grenfell will be treated in new therapy suites. Also today, the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire continued as a control room supervisor said the decision to tell trapped residents to try and escape the burning block 'should have been made sooner'.It took almost two hours before the London Fire Brigade decided to abandon the standard stay-put advice to occupants and ordered a full evacuation. Many of the victims had been advised to remain inside the tower.
Last June, the Queen and her grandson Prince William were met with applause when they dropped into an emergency shelter in West London days after the blaze to meet the devastated survivors. The royal visitors met volunteers, local residents and community representatives while visiting the Westway Sports Centre in White City, which became a focal point for efforts to support those affected by the deadly inferno. Meghan is part of The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and she made her first appearance with the organisation in April. The foundation was launched in 2011 by Prince William and his younger brother Harry – and Meghan officially became its fourth patron after her wedding on May 19. It had an income of £9million last year and spent £9.7million - including £8.3million on charitable activities, of which £4.3million was made up of grant.