5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Kate Middleton vs Meghan Markle: which royal is winning the beekeeping competition?
Feels like a brewing royal roulette!
In a span of a week – give or take – two royals have enlisted the testament of their 'favorite' passion! It's 'bee-spoke' beekeeping!
A hobby that was once well-known in the royal circle might have become a point of yet another royal rivalry! At least, it seems so.
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Only a week back, Kate Middleton's (Catherine, Princess of Wales) Instagram account was abuzz with a beehive video to celebrate World Bee Day. The minimalist video was captioned as, 'Happy World Bee Day! Celebrating a small insect with a big job. Bees pollinate our flowers, plants and crops, support biodiversity and keep our ecosystems thriving.'
Nearly a week from that, now,
(Duchess of Sussex), has posted a story on her Instagram account, where she takes her daughter Princess Lilibet along for a visit to an apiary.
Are the estranged trying to beat each other at their beekeeping game?
Who's keeping the score?
Let's take a look at their apiary track records:
Kate Middleton's beekeeping endeavors
Kate Middleton, known for her environmental advocacy, has also embraced beekeeping. And as it turns out, beekeeping is something that runs in Kate's family – from both sides. Princess of Wales shares the hobby not only with her younger brother, James Middleton, but also with her mother-in-law, Queen Camilla.
In fact, the Princess of Wales keeps a hive at her country home, Anmer Hall. In 2021, on a visit to London's Natural History Museum to promote their Urban Nature Project, Kate Middleton brought a jar of honey from her hives for school children to taste.
In 2023, Princess Catherine shared a photo of herself in a full beekeeping suit, brushing bees off of a honeycomb frame, via Instagram to honor World Bee Day, writing, "We are buzzing about #WorldBeeDay.
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Bees are a vital part of our ecosystem and today is a great opportunity to raise awareness of the essential role bees and other pollinators play in keeping people and the planet healthy.'
Queen Camilla and King Charles love a good garden-themed hobby, so it's no surprise they're also avid apiarists. The King keeps beehives at various royal properties such as Windsor Castle and also at his country retreat, Highgrove House, and The Queen once sold honey from her Wiltshire home, Ray Mill, at iconic London department store Fortnum & Mason.
Queen Camilla even sells her honey at the British department store Fortnum & Mason, with all proceeds going to ShelterBox, a disaster relief organization that provides shelter and emergency tools. In fact, Camilla is such a bee enthusiast that she recently awarded a royal warrant to bee venom facialist Deborah Mitchell.
Meghan Markle's beekeeping journey
Meghan Markle has developed a strong interest in beekeeping, transforming part of her Montecito estate into a sanctuary for thousands of bees. In 'With Love, Meghan', the Duchess of Sussex shared her Royal-approved hobby while she showed off her pristine white beekeeping suit and hood. Meghan was seen being excited while walking into the apiary as she whispered in excitement while scraping honey from a tray, saying, "Look at how much honey we have!"
In a scene from the lifestyle series, Markle is seen pulling honey from a live hive, saying, "It's like also that little reminder to do something that scares you a little bit.
I think that's part of it, but I'm trying to stay in the calm of it. Because it's beautiful to be this connected." In fact, Meghan even used 'organic honey' in her kitchen throughout the run of the series.
In the most recent social post, the Duchess of Sussex was seen approaching an apiary while holding her 3-year-old daughter's hand. The pair were dressed in matching beekeeper suits. However, apart from her lifestyle series, she has not been seen being involved in the process of extracting the honey.
So, who's winning the beekeeping game so far?
While there is no official beekeeping competition between Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton, their underlying rivalry has been much-discussed and pondered over.
Well, the scoreboard is in your court, and it's up to you to decide – who takes the 'bee-spoke' prize!
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