Meghan Markle shared anniversary footage from their Montecito home, but the moment turned into a public roast as critics called the kitchen “outdated,” “hideous,” and even a “cellar.” Royal watchers also speculated the look reflects financial pressure, pointin
Meghan Markle’s eighth wedding anniversary video started as a sweet family scene—then quickly became a battleground over what’s inside the room.
The Duchess of Sussex shared loved-up footage on her Instagram Story. filmed in the Montecito. California mansion she shares with Prince Harry and their children. Prince Archie. 7. and Princess Lilibet. 4. The clip shows Harry, 41, barefoot as he walks into the kitchen carrying a cake topped with four tall candles. He sings “Happy anniversary” to his wife while Archie and Lili cheer him on.
But rather than stay focused on the moment, critics zoomed in on the kitchen itself. Viewers fixated on the heavy wood cabinetry, a Mediterranean-style blue-and-cream tile backsplash, and the low-hanging pots. Many singled out the look of the space as “dated,” “cold,” and—at least to them—anything but inviting.
“I’m baffled by Harry and Meghan’s kitchen and how… well, ugly it is. It’s dated, the tile is hideous, and the big stone wall makes it look like a cellar. All of the stone makes it feel cold. ” one critic wrote on X. adding: “I guess when you have an almost $10 million mortgage. you can’t really renovate and upgrade. but I guess the kitchen matches Meghan Markle — cold and uncomfortable.”.
Another commenter said. “If my backsplash looked like that. there is no way I would show it to the world.” Others went sharper. One wrote that the kitchen was “an ugly. outdated joke according to the neighbors. ” and suggested it explained why Meghan may not have filmed her Netflix cooking series. With Love. Meghan. inside the home. Another observed: “That place is a popular look in Cali in 2000. Very dated. No one wants a Tuscan kitchen anymore.”.
“He whole house literally looks like an Olive Garden restaurant, even the furniture!” a further critic added.
The jokes weren’t just about aesthetics, though. They also fed into a wider conversation about whether the Sussexes have struggled to keep up appearances in their pricey home.
The couple purchased the property—a nine-bedroom, 16-bathroom house sitting on 7.4 acres—in 2020 for $14.65 million after it reportedly sat on the market for years. Built in 2003, the home still features Mediterranean-inspired decor that was popular in the early 2000s.
After seeing Meghan’s anniversary post. The Daily Beast royal editor Tom Sykes suggested the kitchen could mirror broader financial pressure. On the May 20 episode of his “The Royalist” podcast. Sykes said: “I was talking to a source who lives near them in Montecito and he said literally that the house is seen by other people in Montecito as kind of deeply embarrassing and a sign of their failure to make it financially.”.
He added that many wealthy Montecito homeowners would have torn down or renovated the property. “But if you can’t afford or don’t have the mental bandwidth or the time to deal with knocking it down, you certainly extensively remodel it,” Sykes claimed.
Sykes then pointed directly at Meghan’s public image. He argued that if she was trying to sell a lifestyle centered on cooking. entertaining. and hosting. the kitchen should be the first area to update. “If you are a lifestyle influencer who’s trying to sell a lifestyle all about cooking. entertaining and hosting. the first place you would remodel is your kitchen. right?. We’d all love to have a lovely kitchen, wouldn’t we?. With it, just with clean lines, you know, that looks modern, that looks fresh. Instead of this,” he scoffed.
He also echoed the Olive Garden comparison. “Other people have said it’s, you know, a very aspirational Olive Garden, and the copper pots hanging from the ceiling, you know, look like a prop, frankly, from a Tuscan restaurant that closed in 2009,” Sykes continued.
And for Sykes, the kitchen debate wasn’t just about taste—it was about what people think it signals. “I think what’s fascinating about this whole thing is that it gives us an insight into how difficult things are for the couple financially,” he claimed.
Meghan Markle Prince Harry eighth wedding anniversary Instagram Story Montecito kitchen decor outdated kitchen Tom Sykes The Royalist podcast With Love Meghan Olive Garden