Throughout the week, we’ve seen the “damned if they do, damned if they don’t” royal commentary about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Australian tour. Some might even suggest that for an entire national media, Harry and Meghan simply can’t do anything “right.” If they’re doing purely commercial events, they’re slammed as tone-deaf elitists using Australians “like an ATM.” If they do charitable events, they’re slammed as LARPing “real royals.” I’ve also been paying attention to all of the conversations about money and what they’re being paid for various appearances. Like, it’s a fool’s errand for H&M to play the royal media’s reindeer games in general, but specifically about money. “Harry & Meghan are desperate for cash, that’s why they’re doing paid events” versus “The Sussexes aren’t actually being paid, they’re just desperate to look like they’re on a royal tour!” Well, the Daily Mail had a big exclusive about what Harry & Meghan were paid or not paid for certain appearances:

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, was said to have pocketed up to $380,000 for her top-secret appearance on MasterChef Australia – but the truth is even more astounding.

The Daily Mail can reveal Meghan was not paid a cent, and didn’t even promote her As Ever food and lifestyle range, featuring flower sprinkles, fruit preserves and wine.

The 44-year-old quietly visited the set of the reality TV cooking series on Wednesday to film her show-stopping segment at Melbourne Showgrounds. It is understood she was on set for the entire day of filming, with Network 10 later confirming she would be a guest judge in an episode of the new season.

Some TV industry analysts initially suggested she could have been paid up to US$250,000 (AU$380,000) to appear on the show. Former TV executive Rob McKnight dismissed the six-figure fee, but revealed the Duchess could easily have demanded between $10,000 to $50,000.

‘I think it is a brilliant PR move by Network 10, which is probably worth the least amount of money of the major networks,’ he said, hailing hailed the publicity coup. ‘It has shown Ten is the little engine that could’

‘Having Meghan in the MasterChef kitchen with us was such a treat,’ MasterChef Australia judges Poh Ling Yeow, Sofia Levin and Jean-Christophe Novelli told the Daily Mail. ‘She was a complete delight and was right at home. Introducing her to the contestants was like the best kind of surprise party – jaws were on the floor! The Duchess put us all at ease very quickly, learning about our home cooks through their food, and happily sharing her passion and knowledge for produce, cooking and entertaining with us all. We’d have her back in a heartbeat.’

Meghan’s appearance on the show has divided fans before it even goes to air. But McKnight said MasterChef bosses would not be upset by the response from fans.

‘Here’s the thing,’ he said. ‘The backlash against Meghan Markle doesn’t hurt. It’s got everyone talking about the show, and before this, how many people knew it was coming back? It’s been so off the radar. Meghan polarises people. People love her, but a lot of people hate her, which means she is far from boring.’

[From The Daily Mail]

“The Daily Mail can reveal Meghan was not paid a cent, and didn’t even promote her As Ever food and lifestyle range, featuring flower sprinkles, fruit preserves and wine…” I believe that she didn’t promote As Ever, but I don’t believe she wasn’t paid whatsoever. She didn’t get $300K or anything, but guest judges appearing on a reality cooking competition get paid. It was probably a baseline appearance fee. There’s also been talk about how Harry didn’t collect a speaking fee for his Thursday speech in Melbourne – I disagree with that as well. The Sussexes were quite open about how this visit was a mix of commercial events and charitable events, and the tour was quite literally built around Harry’s speech and Meghan’s retreat appearance.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, MasterChef Australia’s Instagram.