In the finale of With Love, Meghan season two, Chef José Andrés and Meghan Markle make a paella for the crew of the Netflix show.
“I love them,” Andrés told People of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in 2022. “I have been able to spend time with them, working with them and they are very hands-on and highly knowledgeable of what’s happening in the world, what the issues are, and what the needs are.”
He continued, “For me, it is a pleasure to call them friends. All my life I have been trying to learn what exactly we are missing because why is there still hunger? What are we missing? We have to make the most of the opportunities of goodness, and I believe that with people like Meghan and Harry, we can make it happen.”
Here, what to know about the Sussexes’ friendship with Chef José Andrés:
The Archewell Foundation launches partnership with the World Central Kitchen.
Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Foundation first teamed up with Andrés’s World Central Kitchen (WCK) in 2020; it was Archewell’s first public partnership. In their partnership, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they were funding a series of Community Relief Centers for World Central Kitchen. “The health of our communities depends on our ability to connect to our shared humanity,” Meghan and Harry said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg in December 2020. “When we think about Chef Andrés and his incredible team at World Central Kitchen, we’re reminded that even during a year of unimaginable hardship, there are so many amazing people willing—and working tirelessly—to support each other. World Central Kitchen inspires us through compassion in action.”
Andrés said at the time, “We are more energized than ever to continue this vital work, and we’re proud that it will be hand in hand with Archewell Foundation and The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. I have come to know both of them well, and believe that their values are directly aligned with what we stand for at World Central Kitchen.”
This is likely around when Andrés and the Sussexes first met. “It was very refreshing the first time I met them,” Andrés said a few years later. “They contacted me and said, ‘We want to be a partner with you.’ For me, it is amazing. They are very good people.”
In 2022, Archewell announced they had donated to WCK to support their Ukraine relief efforts, and again in early 2025, they supported WCK in their response to the wildfires in California.
Meghan contributes a recipe to The World Central Kitchen Cookbook.
The World Central Kitchen Cookbook: Feeding Humanity, Feeding Hope
Her lemon olive oil cake appears in the cookbook.
Meghan had previously baked the cake for “a group of female restaurateurs who partnered with WCK to provide meals to their community during the pandemic,” per Sussex.com.
With the cake, she wrote them a note that read, “Sometimes we overlook how much it matters to express thanks and show appreciation. Perhaps we realize now more than ever that fundamental human moments, like enjoying a meal together, fill us up with more than just food (even if that food is delicious!). To that point, we hope you enjoy the offering we baked for you—a small token of thanks, from our home to yours. Our hope with this effort is to show that, when we all participate, even the smallest actions can have a ripple effect. Even individual actions can impact the whole of us.”
Harry and Andrés reunite in New York City in September 2024.
Both the Duke of Sussex and the chef spoke at the 2024 edition of the Clinton Global Initiative.
Andrés and the Sussexes volunteer together in California.
Amid the wildfires in California in January 2025, Harry, Meghan, and Andrés were pictured volunteering together. “I mean, listen, I consider them friends,” Andrés told People. “I know they are in the spotlight — not in America, but in Britain — and what I can tell you from what I know is that they don’t have to, but they decide to do it.”
He added, “Probably, you feel like it’s better that nobody does anything, because nobody criticizes you for showing up — but the amazing thing is that they show up. The hugs I saw [them] give to the people that recognize them and even the people that don’t recognize them, it’s people that just want somebody to listen to them, and give them a hug. I’m just glad that they show up like so many others.”
Andrés appears in With Love, Meghan.
Courtesy Netflix
Andrés and Meghan while they make a paella.
José Andrés is the final guest in With Love, Meghan, and he joins Meghan in the finale of season two to create a dinner to celebrate the crew.
Emily Burack (she/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, celebrities, the royals, and a wide range of other topics. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram.