Meghan Markle has been called out online after sharing a photo of herself making her much-hyped jam while holding the utensils upside down.<\/p>\n
The 44-year-old Duchess of Sussex, who has long spoken of her love for making fruit preserves, uploaded a series of new photos on her As Ever website over the weekend to promote a restock of her apricot spread and orange marmalade.<\/p>\n
In one image, the mother-of-two appeared relaxed in the kitchen of her Montecito mansion in California – using canning equipment to lift a jar of jam from a saucepan of boiling water on the stove.<\/p>\n
But eagle-eyed fans quickly pointed out that the self-proclaimed jam expert had been using the tongs incorrectly – gripping the curved rubber end meant for jars rather than the handles.<\/p>\n
“Guys she’s using the canning tongs upside down. The rubber part goes around the jars so they don’t slip,” one user posted.<\/p>\n
“She’s using the jar lifter wrong! I’ve been canning for years,” another said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Critics said the mistake showed Meghan’s inexperience, despite her claim that “jam is my jam” and the fact that her homemade raspberry spread catalysed the launch of her lifestyle brand, As Ever.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Dear Meghan Markle, Even if you want to pretend for the camera, at least learn to get the basics right before embarrassing yourself,” one user wrote on X.<\/p>\n
“Maybe jam isn’t really her jam after all. How embarrassing,” another said.<\/p>\n
Others, however, leapt to Meghan’s defence.<\/p>\n
“I actually couldn’t care about how she’s holding utensils\u2026\u2026.. There is soooo much going on around the world. Negativity is not needed right now. Concentrate on what really matters,” one Instagram user wrote.<\/p>\n
Another asked: “What exactly do you lot want to achieve by posting and talking about her?”<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the photo appeared to have vanished from the As Ever website soon after it went viral.<\/p>\n
It’s not the first time Meghan has copped criticism over her fruit spreads.<\/p>\n
In June, American jam maker Donna Collins hit out following an episode of With Love, Meghan in which the Duchess said her As Ever product was technically a spread – not jam – because it contained less sugar to let the fruit’s flavour shine.<\/p>\n
“It’s a real disappointment that Meghan is selling a fruit spread, which is what you make when your jam fails. In the jam industry a spread is what we call something that didn’t work,” Collins told the Mail.<\/p>\n
“It can have the best ingredients, but if I had a jam that was too runny, I’d slap a label on it and call it a spread. There’s no excuse for this. It should be perfect.”<\/p>\n