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The Duchess of Sussex described her husband as a “charmer” after he made a surprise FaceTime call during her appearance on MasterChef Australia.

Meghan appeared as a guest judge on the 18th season of the cooking show on Sunday.

Contesants were challenged to transform a larder ingredient into a dish “fit for a duchess”.

The couple spoke during the show’s judging portion, when Harry made a video call to check in.

“Hi, my love,” she said after producers handed her the phone, introducing Harry to contestants and judges and showing him the dishes.

“My husband’s here,” she told the stunned crowd.

The episode was filmed during Meghan and Harry’s week-long trip to Australia in April, when the couple carried out charitable and commercial engagements across Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney.

“He’s a charmer, isn’t he?” she said after the phone call ended.

Asked about cooking for her family, the Meghan said she had “a lot of palates to appease”, and that her children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet “are great eaters” who enjoy Brussels sprouts.

“The kids jump in a lot, especially in the garden,” she said, describing how the family often prepares food together.

She said her husband’s British upbringing means he prefers “meat, potatoes and cream sauce” while the Californian-born duchess favours grilled meats, fish and citrus.

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Archie and LilibetPrince Harry, Meghan Markle, Archie and Lilibet (@meghan/Instagram)

A previous announcement from the Sussexes described the new season as featuring some of the “most impressive amateur cooks the competition has ever seen”.

The duke and duchess’s Australian visit included meetings with mental health charities, Invictus veterans and survivors and emergency service personnel from the Bondi Beach terror attack.

“We love Australia. We had the most sentimental, amazing time. We were here almost eight years ago,” the duchess said of her visit.

“We announced we were pregnant with Archie at the time. It’s full circle.”

Previous seasons of the Australian show have aired in the UK on Channel 4, with British guest judges including Gordon Ramsay, Nigella Lawson, Heston Blumenthal and Jamie Oliver.

It is understood that Meghan was not paid for her appearance on the cooking programme.