The Duchess of Sussex attendd a special screening of Cookie Queens
Meghan Markle revealed why her children were ecstatic with her new film, despite not even watching it yet during a Q&A session yesterday.
The Duchess of Sussex stepped out in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening for a special screening of Cookie Queens, a Girl Scout documentary she and Prince Harry executive produced.
The film, which tracks four young scouts through the fiercely competitive annual cookie-selling season, is due in cinemas on August 7.
Meghan was joined by director Alysa Nahmias for a post-screening audience Q&A, where the pair discussed what initially attracted them to the project.
Asked whether Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, had seen the finished documentary, the 44-year-old duchess confirmed they had not. The children were, however, rather enthusiastic about one particular aspect of the production.
"They love all the cookies that we've had throughout this process," the Duchess said with a laugh.
Meghan has previously named Thin Mints as her own favourite Girl Scout biscuit, calling them "such a classic." Yet the mother of two has also been open about encouraging healthier habits at home.
During a recent appearance on MasterChef Australia, she revealed that both Archie and Lili eat Brussels sprouts. She also shared the household rule on pudding.
"If they say, 'Mama, can I have dessert?' We say, 'If you can pick it, you can have it,'" she explained — a policy that rather neatly balances indulgence with a touch of parental ingenuity.
At the screening, Meghan was keen to stress that the documentary carries far greater weight than its subject matter might initially suggest.
"It's more than just about the Girl Scouts and certainly more than just about Girl Scout cookies," she told the audience.
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"It's about girlhood, which Alyssa has said quite a bit as we've been working through promoting the show, but also it's about families."
She described the film as "a brilliant portrayal of a really important part of Americana," adding that despite expectations of a charming confection, "there's not a dry eye in the house" each time she has watched it.
The Sussexes came aboard during pre-production, before the central scouts had even been fully cast. Meghan recalled her own contribution to those early discussions with characteristic warmth.
"I baked some cookies, and I brought them to the meeting," she said
During the Q&A, Meghan also shared a piece of wisdom from her husband, drawing on his decade as a helicopter pilot in the British Army.
"Sometimes on really hard days, he was like, 'My love, you know, even if there's a storm happening, above the storm, the sun's always shining'," she recounted. "And that's a perspective that only comes from zooming out a little bit."
She urged the audience to hold onto that outlook, noting that many seemingly insurmountable challenges are ultimately overcome — and that goals one doubts reaching are often not merely met but surpassed.
The young scouts featured in the film clearly left a deep impression on the Duchess, who spoke admiringly of their ambition, curiosity and kindness towards one another.
"People say to you, when you become a parent, you just don't understand love like that. And then truly, when it happens, it's so true," she reflected.
