'Great British Bake Off' Judge Mary Berry Commends Kate Middleton as a 'Remarkable, Enthusiastic Cook'

Published Oct 21, 2021

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9:31pm

While Mary Berry spent years picking the “Star Baker” each week on The Great British Bake Off, now it's her time to shine.

The chef and television presenter was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) back in 2020, and she finally received the honor earlier this week at Windsor Castle. The news was shared on the royal family Instagram account, where they said, “Arise Dame Mary Berry! Congratulations to the food writer, TV presenter and former judge on @britishbakeoff who received her Damehood for services to culinary arts from The Prince of Wales today.”

Prince Charles and Princess Anne presented the honor to Berry, along with war crimes prosecutor Kwai Hong Ip and gospel music director Karen Gibson. As a part of the ceremony, Berry made a special statement where she recognized the cooking talents of the one and only Kate Middleton.

Thanks to Hello! magazine, we learned that Berry called out the Duchess of Cambridge, saying, “Kate is a remarkable, enthusiastic cook—she’ll have a go at anything. She made a beautiful roulade—and William had a go, too—and she was icing cakes and was an absolute natural, and I like the idea that she'll seek to do things well.”

Middleton spoke on the matter, revealing that she's made a tradition of crafting her kids' birthday cakes. “I love making the cake. It's become a bit of a tradition that I stay up 'til midnight with ridiculous amounts of cake mix and icing and I make far too much. But I love it,” she said.

This is not Berry's first brush with the royalty. Back in 2019, the professional chef hosted a Christmas special titled A Berry Royal Christmas, where she was joined by Prince William and Middleton as she visited charities across the U.K. to thank workers for dedicating their time during the holiday season.

Congrats, Mary Berry! Now we're just dying to try one of Kate's cakes.

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Joel Calfee

Associate Editor, News and Entertainment

Joel is the former Associate Editor for News & Entertainment and has been reporting on all things pop culture for over 5 years. Before working at PureWow, he served as a Features Editor at ROCKET Magazine. When he's not dissecting the latest trends in entertainment (or guiding you on what to watch), he covers all the hottest red carpet looks and fashion movements. When he steps away from the keyboard, you can likely find him at an NYC concert, thrift store or LGBTQ+ bookstore happily perusing the shelves.

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