This Ina Garten Recipe May Have Inspired Prince Harry’s Proposal
If you giggled a bit when news broke that Prince Harry proposed to Meghan Markle over a roast chicken, you’re certainly not alone. But according to many women—celebrity chef Ina Garten among them—the role roast chicken plays in matters of the heart is no laughing matter.
Garten, whose famous roast chickens are a favorite of her husband Jeffrey, congratulated Meghan and Harry on Twitter with a reference to the legend of the “engagement chicken”— a recipe some say guarantees a proposal.
“Congratulations to Prince Harry and Meghan! I always knew roast chicken had magic powers!!” she wrote. “I'm so happy for both of you! @theroyalfamily @meghanmarkle”
Congratulations to Prince Harry and Meghan! I always knew roast chicken had magic powers!! I'm so happy for both of you! @theroyalfamily @meghanmarkle
— Ina Garten (@inagarten) November 28, 2017
In a recent interview with Good Housekeeping, Markle shared that she’s a longtime fan of the Barefoot Contessa’s signature chicken dish. "There is nothing as delicious (or as impressive) as a perfectly roasted chicken. If you have an Ina Garten–level roasted-chicken recipe, it's a game changer,” Markle said. “I bring that to dinner parties and make a lot of friends."
Many speculate that Markle was whipping up Garten’s recipe when her real-life prince got down on one knee. Garten told People that she couldn’t be happier to have played a role in their royal love story.
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“I thought it was so great because it shows that everyone is happy to have something simple, and really good,” Garten said. “It’s nourishing and I love that they were cooking it together. It wasn’t some fancy meal. He did it over a home-cooked meal and a simple roast chicken, which is frankly what everybody wants.”
Looking for a ring this holiday season? You can find Garten’s roast chicken recipe here. The original engagement chicken recipe (with 70 proposals and counting) is included in the book 100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know: Engagement Chicken and 99 Other Fabulous Dishes to Get You Everything You Want in Life ($25, amazon.com), by Cindi Leive and the editors of Glamour.