So Meghan Markle is probably a flexitarian not a vegan, but what does that mean?

We learnt a lot about Meghan Markle this week. We found out that she’s launching her own line of womenswear, that she’ll probably only have one more child and that she’s actually not a vegan but a flexitarian.

Earlier this week the duchess of Sussex’s interview with Michelle Obama, went live in the issue of Vogue, Meghan has guest edited.

And people were quick to focus on a line, written by the then-pregnant duchess, that seemingly revealed the royal’s dietary preferences.

“So, over a casual lunch of chicken tacos and my ever-burgeoning bump, I asked Michelle if she would help me with this secret project,” the line read, indicating that contrary to popular belief she probably wasn’t following an entirely plant-based diet.

But actually the hints that Meghan could be a flexitarian have been there for a while.

In a 2016 interview with Best Health, the royal revealed that she was a part-timer when it comes to eating plant-based.

“I try to eat vegan during the week and then have a little bit more flexibility with what I dig into on the weekends. But at the same time, it’s all about balance,” she said.

There’s also the fact that Meghan literally told everyone that her now husband Harry had popped the marriage question over a roast chicken dinner back in 2017.

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So it’s probably fair to say that the duchess is a flexitarian, but what does that actually mean?

What does it mean to follow a flexitarian diet?

According to new research, more than one third of people in the UK identify as flexitarian, or flexible vegetarians, who mostly eat a diet of plants with the occasional addition of meat.

Figures by the Forum for the Future and Counterpoint, commissioned by Flora, predicts that the number of flexitarians is set to grow even further.

There are no particular rules to being a flexitarian, so you could eat meat once a month, or once a day, but the diet is usually taken on by those who want to cut down on their meat intake but can’t fully commit to a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle.

Because, as a less-strict lifestyle choice, it opens up an easier way for people to eat less meat, and some see it as a way of helping to achieve many of the environmental aims of vegetarians and vegans.

But others argue that the middle ground option that flexitarianism offers simply doesn’t exist and those following the diet are just meat-eaters.

Earlier this year ‘GMB’ host Piers Morgan claimed flexitarians are the same as meat-eaters “except they just want to be with the cool kids” saying they are vegetarian or vegan.

He labelled flexitarians the “gender fluid of meat eaters” claiming: “You are the gender fluid of meat eaters, you want to be with the cool kids, but you are a meat eater.”

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Meghan certainly isn’t alone if she does in fact follow a flexitarian diet.

Last year her sister-in-law, the Duchess of Cambridge‘s mum, Carole Middleton, admitted she was a flexitarian.

Speaking about the food she was going to be serving for Christmas dinner Carole told The Telegraph she’s going to serve vegan and non-vegan options since she herself has recently changed her diet.

“I’ve recently gone vegan. Or maybe that should be flexitarian,” she said.

And Meghan’s new pal, Beyoncé has also hinted about the fact she might also follow a predominantly plant-based diet.

Before Coachella last year, the singer announced her commitment to a plant-based diet with an Instagram photo featuring a plate of artful avocado toast.

Then later in a nod to how serious Beyoncé was about consuming a largely plant-based diet, her and husband Jay-Z offered the chance to win free concert tickets for life to those who adopt a full or partial vegan diet.

With more consumers than ever before interested in cutting back on animal products for their health and the environment, no doubt Meghan’s apparent flexitarian reveal and the power it holds will continue to see the predominantly plant-based movement become even more mainstream.