Meghan Markle has just proved she’s not fit for either life in the Royal Family or as a Hollywood elite with one entitled remark. The Duchess of Sussex has now officially been confirmed to be appearing on TV cooking contest MasterChef Australia, after filming her appearance while on a quasi-royal tour with her husband, Prince Harry, earlier this year.

The first images of her have now been released, alongside Poh Ling Yeow and fellow judges Jean-Christophe Novelli and Sofia Levin. Meghan wore a black dress with a slit up the skirt and an open collar, with her hair in loose curls around her shoulders, and a pair of black heeled pumps.

I’ll get into Meghan’s choice of outfit a bit later. For now, let’s concentrate on Meghan’s demand as she sets the challenge for the budding chefs – to “create a dish fit for a Duchess”. Poh said on the show: “We’ve had MasterChef royalty in the kitchen before but no-one like this.”

Meghan, who stepped back from royal life in 2020 with Harry in tow, has once again proved she’ll use her frankly undeserved titles if it will land her a TV gig. After referring to herself as “Meghan Sussex” on her Netflix show With Love, Meghan and using her HRH titles in personal missives to friends, it seems Meghan is holding onto the moniker for dear life.

Perhaps she was startled when King Charles stripped Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor of his own titles, and determined to cling on all the harder. Perhaps Meghan simply feels entitled to being Her Royal Highness despite not being a part of the Royal Family Britain pays its taxes to. Perhaps she just wants to feel important.

Whatever the reason, this latest MasterChef demand feels entitled in the extreme. Likely dreamed up by production behind the scenes, Meghan still stood by and let them proceed with it, presenting the show seemingly unbothered by the whole thing. She’s perfectly willing to be featured in promotional material for the show despite the statement clearly opening her up to derision.

She said: “What attracted me to the MasterChef Australia kitchen? Two things: my love of food and my love of Australia. It was an easy yes.

“It's such a great show. I'm just really honoured that I was asked to be here with you and to be able to judge some of these meals.”

Then come the rumours that Meghan kicked off behind the scenes when she heard the cast referring to her as “royalty”. Whichever version of the story you believe, Meghan doesn’t come off well. Either she agreed to be referred to as Duchess, or she rowed about it – reportedly leaving the set “frustrated”.

She needs to accept the fact that without her royal ties, Meghan wouldn’t have even been invited onto the programme. There’s no way MasterChef Australia – let alone Netflix – would employ her if she was simply an actress from Suits, let alone let so much of their promo hinge on her stint.

This proves one thing to me – Meghan cannot go back to the Hollywood life she left behind. She’s caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to using her titles.

And then we come to the outfits. While Meghan definitely toned down her Hollywood style when she was still living in the UK, she was really outdressed here by fellow judge Sofia Levin, who showed up to the shoot in a stunning white two-piece with a floor-length skirt and simple vest top, emblazoned with colourful flowers.

I’m not sure if Levin was trying to upstage Meghan, but her clear nod to Princess Catherine’s style rather than Meghan’s own speaks volumes. Meghan dispensed with royal style entirely with the split skirt, meaning that despite the demure long sleeves, she’s clearly not ready to commit to the more restrictive life back in the UK. Moreover she’s refused all public appearances while in Blighty – but she’s happy to parade around in the US and Australia.

So where does Meghan fit? Clearly not in a quiet Montecito life with Harry, seeing as though she’s so determined to elbow herself back into the public eye. But she can’t make a home for the Sussexes in the UK either if she keeps going down this path.