Meghan Markle's scone recipe post arrives hours after Prince William shared his cream-first preference

The great British scone debate has taken an unexpected royal turn, with fans questioning the timing of Meghan Markle's latest Instagram post from her lifestyle brand. On Saturday, the brand shared a scone recipe placing cream before jam, arriving just hours after Prince William had publicly declared the very same preference during a radio interview.

Whether coincidence or not, the timing was enough to set social media alight.

What Meghan Markle posted and when

Meghan's lifestyle brand posted a scone recipe on Instagram on Saturday, featuring a video showing a generous portion of cream atop a halved scone, topped with the Duchess of Sussex's own raspberry spread. The caption read: "Memorial weekend plans. Baking warm scones topped with our Strawberry or Raspberry Spread, Orange Blossom Honey, and Flower Sprinkles."The recipe called for flour, cold butter, coconut sugar or regular sugar, an egg, heavy cream, baking powder, salt, raw cream, and several 'As Ever' products, including Strawberry Spread, Orange Blossom Honey and Flower Sprinkles.

What Prince William said hours earlier

The post proved notable given that just hours earlier, Prince William had publicly weighed in on one of Britain's most enduring culinary debates during an appearance on Heart FM with presenters Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden.

Asked about royal scone etiquette, William revealed: "I love that I'm the authority on scones. I can only tell you what I learned from my grandmother, and she would definitely have the cream on first.

"The admission surprised many royal observers, who had long assumed the late Queen Elizabeth II favoured jam as the base layer, based on how her chefs prepared scones for Buckingham Palace garden parties. William diplomatically added: "It tastes delicious either way."

How fans reacted to the timing

The near-simultaneous declarations did not go unnoticed online. One fan wrote on X: "Isn't it ironic? Prince William went on an interview and divulged how he takes his scones, clotted cream, then jam, and that he learned it from his Grandmother. Guess who posts a video the next day showing scones, clotted cream first, then jam? There are no coincidences."Another wrote: "William gives a speech on how the queen liked her scones, what comes first, clotted cream or jam, and all of a sudden, Meghan puts this up on Instagram."However, not everyone was convinced the timing was intentional. One supporter wrote: "Meghan is not obsessed with William, and I'm sure she had no idea he'd said something about scones. Coincidences do happen, you know!"Scones hold a firmly established place in royal entertaining, having featured among the desserts at King Charles and Queen Camilla's 2005 wedding reception, served alongside glazed fudge and strawberry tartlets.