Meghan: A Hollywood Princess(42)
She had entered a glorious, gilded world and was aware of the subdued hysteria of her day-to-day existence. She wrote: “I work long hours, I travel for Press, my mind memorizes. My mind spins. My days blur. My nights are restless. My hair is primped, my face is painted, my name is recognized, my star meter is rising, my life is changing.”
In March, just before her speech to the United Nations, she found herself on the island of Malta in the Mediterranean. The visit, sponsored by Elle magazine, was a chance for her to discover her roots—and to enjoy some of the island’s fabulous but oft-neglected cuisine. Malta held a special place in her heart; her paternal great-great-grandmother Mary Merrill, the daughter of Mary Bird, a former housemaid to the British royal family and a British soldier, had been born here. She was eager to know more. When she told one friend she was going to the island, they noted: “When you go to Malta, everyone will look like you.” As she explored the island, it seemed her friend’s prediction was spot on.
She went by ferry to the tiny island of Gozo and tasted the famous Goz cheeselet, and then after returning to the main island she explored the Casa Rocca Piccola in Valletta and viewed the Caravaggio paintings at St. John’s Co-Cathedral. During a week enjoying la dolce vita, she fell in love with Maltese cuisine. Meghan threw herself into her cooking lesson with chef Pippa Mattei, Malta’s equivalent of Martha Stewart, at her home in Attard. As Meghan liked to emphasize that, as a California girl, her experience with farm-to-table cuisine was hardwired, here was an opportunity to see the Maltese version. Mattei took her shopping for produce in the local farmers market, then gave her a lesson in pasta and pastizzi making, followed by a meal in Mattei’s garden. Oh, if only she could bring back a suitcase full of Maltese treats.
For the girl who conjured The Tig from her favorite tipple, no visit to Malta would have been complete without a comprehensive wine tasting. The actor visited the Meridiana wine estate for a leisurely afternoon exploring fruity reds and tasty whites. As Maltese wines rarely, if ever, reach the shores of the US, this was a real treat. She didn’t discover much more about her Maltese ancestry—but she did discover the delights of this bucolic island.
Her visit to Malta was a solo trip even though her chef boyfriend would have been inspired by the variety and distinctiveness of the local cuisine. Like Meghan, he was being kept busy, on the verge of starting a new venture, Flock Rotisserie and Greens, a restaurant specializing in roast chicken and salad. “I’ve been testing a fair bit of roast chicken on Meghan,” he admitted. The chef was working virtually round the clock running three restaurants.
He was also in front of the camera too, taping episodes of Chef in Your Ear for Food Network Canada, which were due for broadcast in August 2015. Taking a leaf out of Meghan’s philanthropy playbook, he volunteered for Kids Cook to Care, a program for youngsters who are taught how to make home-cooked meals by celebrity chefs. It would hopefully ignite their understanding of proper cooking techniques and the importance of serving the community.
With his filming and restaurant commitments, he was unable to join Meghan on her next exotic jaunt—to Istanbul, where she, together with actor Eddie Redmayne, 50 Shades actor Jamie Dornan, and British singer Paloma Faith were on hand to celebrate the opening of the latest enclave of Soho House.
It was another glamorous interlude in her busiest and most successful year to date. Her UN speech was matched by an invitation to become the face for one of Canada’s oldest and most respected retailers, Reitmans. There was more, the ninety-year-old store chain wanted her to curate her own clothing line. Not only was her face going to be on billboards and on TV all over Canada, she was going to influence how women dressed.
It was a marvelous opportunity, though when she first mentioned the overture to savvy friends they scoffed at the idea of involving herself with a retail brand that was so fuddy-duddy. “Oh, that’s where my mom would buy her jeans in the eighties,” they chorused. Meghan was not so sure. As an American she didn’t have the same knee-jerk reaction toward this venerable retailer as her Canadian friends. At meetings with store executives, Meghan brought a fresh eye. “There are pieces here that are so cool that if you’re going to reenergize it, I’d be happy to be a part of that,” she said. They planned an advertising campaign starring Meghan wearing trimmer, slimmer, hipper Reitmans clothing. In one commercial, Meghan is filmed walking into an elegant restaurant where two ladies who lunch eagerly give the TV star the once over. One exclaims: “So stylish” while the other asks what she is wearing. They then try to crawl over the back of the booth to get a closer look at the label in her shirt. Catching them in the act, Meghan smiles and says, “Ladies, it’s Reitmans.” Another showed Meghan, all crisp business, slick high heels, and tight jeans, speaking on her cell phone as she strides out into the street. As the camera follows her down the street, she notices herself in the store’s glass window. Her cute alter ego in the reflection preens and wiggles for the camera before blowing her other half a kiss. Cue her slogan for the brand: “Reitmans. Really.”
Not only was she the brand ambassador, she worked hard on a capsule collection to be launched in spring 2016. Meghan was thrilled, reflecting on the days when she was a little girl and how she had sat with her mother at her clothing store, A Change of a Dress on La Brea in Los Angeles. In those far-off days, Doria had taken her daughter to fabric warehouses, where she had walked along the aisles. Now she had the opportunity to create her own fashion line. Meghan and the design team sketched out ideas, played with swatches, and examined the zippers and fit of sample pieces. As she later remarked: “I’m super involved with the design process, and I’m sure that it drives them crazy. But how could I not? It has my name on it.”