Meghan Markle has long loved a summer holiday: Her now-defunct lifestyle website The Tig showcased trips to Positano and Madrid, and in the last few weeks the former actor has privately hit up Ibiza and Nice.

But since having son Archie in May, she’s only been out to the polo once and Wimbledon twice so the world can only wonder whether Meghan is wearing Talitha or Mara Hoffman kaftans in 2019.

Fortunately, a blog entry she wrote in 2014 for The Tig  – she closed the site in 2017 after starting her romance with Prince Harry – has resurfaced to give a taste of the Duchess of Sussex’s favourite summer traditions.

Meghan leaves an unnamed beach in a now-deleted social media post. Photo: Instagram

In the post, Meghan she also let slip her “love of all things British” two years before she met her now-husband on a blind date. Stalker alert!

“Sun-kissed afternoons, cocktail in hand, surrounded by nothing but the laughter of your closest mates, an Otis Redding playlist, and the whistling breeze of the wind.

“I’m talking about perfection, people,” Meghan wrote to her followers on June 20, 2014.

“The perfection that comes with summertime. Picnics and barbecues, laying out by the pool with friends, and toasting to the season are high on my list.”

Meghan holidays with friends in Madrid, Spain in pre-Harry days. Photo: Instagram

As for the toasting bit, Meghan noted that “while I generally opt to whet [sic] my whistle with a glass of rosé or crisp Sauvignon Blanc” sometimes “the day calls for a cocktail”.

When that day arrives, Meghan does a “twist” on the British Pimm’s Cup which she called the Tig Cup.

The recipe (see below) calls for those keen to try it not to just rush to the supermarket or corner bottle shop, but to take “cues from the season, with fresh and vibrant farmers’ market ingredients”.

The effort will pay off, Meghan promised: her cocktail will “keep you cool during those long summer days turned nights. This is a guaranteed crowd pleaser.

The Duchess of Sussex gets on it in days of yore. Photo: Instagram

“Cheers!”

Meghan may get to dazzle the in-laws with her cocktail when she travels with Harry and Archie to Balmoral Castle to spend time with the Queen and other royals in the next week or two.

The Sussexes are also extending their summer with their first family trip to Africa next month, and Meghan does have form in home-made hospitality on official tours. In Australia last October, she whipped up a banana cake at Kirribilli House.

Meghan’s tips on making the most of hot weather also extended to another pastime she called “the sweetest tradition” – reading.

“Whether it’s to escape, to inform, to inspire or to just turn off the world while you sit by a pool, I love getting lost in a good book,” the duchess wrote on The Tig in 2014.

So what are her top three poolside must-haves?

First, The Opposite of Loneliness, which Meghan was “undone by”. The book is a collection of essays by Marina Keegan, who died in a car accident five days after graduating from Yale in 2012.

Second is The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy, which is “exactly what I want when I’m laying on a beach. I love opening the pages and finding little flecks of sand from vacations past,” she said.

The book is about an American girl in 1950s Paris who “runs a muck [sic],” according to Meghan.

Third pick is Where’d You Go, Bernadette, which was turned into a mystery drama starring Cate Blanchett that is due to premiere in October.

Drink like a royal with Meghan’s Tig Cup recipe

“
Stack a sprinkling of cucumber/mint/celery/radish/lime into the glass. Fill glass with ice.

“
In a shaker, add a couple ounces of gin and a splash of Maraschino cherry liqueur.

“Shake the alcohols hard with ice.
 Back to your glass – pour a two count of tonic and a three count of soda water.

“Strain the gin and liqueur mixture into the two glasses, splitting equally. Finish each drink with a twist of the grapefruit over the top.”