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Meghan MarkleBranding – whether personal or lifestyle – is always a bit confusing. The latter was originally American Riviera Orchards In 2024, less than a year later, “As Ever” became “As Ever,” a moniker the Duchess claimed restricted her from selling goods made and grown in the Santa Barbara area where she lives. Like Markle, sorry, sussexher jam suffers an identity crisis.
Despite this, her products (shower head, £11, honey, £21) were sold out. after releasethe Duchess was even forced to provide Free gifts for customers In fact, they purchased the item after the initial inventory disappeared within 45 minutes. Markle announces she won’t Restock product As the business’s success took its toll, she admitted she was worried she might “annoy” customers. “I don’t want you to eat jam every six months,” she admitted. “I hope it stays on your shelf.”
It’s 2026 and she’s just launched a new ‘relaxation set’ (£47), which includes a black leather ‘Falling Here’ bookmark, a jar of sage honey and a jar of peppermint tea. The bookmark is engraved in gold and handwritten by Meghan. The product is very different from Santa Barbara in that it is produced in the UK, a nod to the life of the Duke and Duchess before they returned to the United States in 2020.
So, what is the actual situation of the enterprise?
After she launched the jam, her As Ever product miraculously started selling two weeks later. “You’ve done it again, we’ve sold out of almost everything, I can’t believe it,” Markle told fans on social media, showing off a new apricot jam in a souvenir packaging (£10), as well as a limited-edition orange blossom honey (£20), which sold out within 10 minutes of launch. “We spent a lot of time making sure we had more inventory,” Markle said with a grin, seemingly in disbelief.
Then there’s this month’s technical snafus, which seemed to expose just how many products As Ever has sold and still has. Neither Markle nor her company has released sales figures, but reports say the brand’s online site shows the exact amount of inventory remaining for each item. For example, “The Times” reports As Ever’s website shows there are still 137,465 servings of the signature fruit jam box, which contains three pieces of jam and costs £31 each.
This inspired some quick calculations by reporters. A source “close to the business” told the sun The number on the jam represents the quantity of inventory remaining after the original purchase order of one million units. If this is true, it means Markle has sold between 862 and 535 cases of the signature fruit spread, with a total value of £26.7 million. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that 87% of orders have been sold,” the insider said. The Duchess, as usual, made no comment.
Of course, these hypothetical numbers do not take into account pre-profit overhead, operating costs, production, packaging, marketing and shipping. A back-of-the-envelope calculation of the payout, based on similar celebrity business models, puts it at between £12-16 million, making Markle’s profits appear to be between £10-14 million. Absolutely a jam jar kill.
But the problem remains brand image. Business here is not very good. Renae Smith, founder of PR and branding firm The Atticism, diagnoses: “She launched a product and it sold out, then she said she wasn’t making any more, then she launched another one, then she said there were no more products, and then there was a website glitch that showed there were thousands of jars of honey and jam left. It was brand confusion.”
“Meghan does have the potential to have a really good brand,” Smith admits. “But she either didn’t understand what she wanted in her brand, or she had really bad advisors in that area,” she said. Or maybe she doesn’t want to hear it. Notably, the Sussexes have lost 11 publicists in five years, the last being Meredith Maines, Quit after less than a year in character.
Compared with other celebrity wellness brands, such as Goop, launched by Gwyneth Paltrow in 2008 and valued at around $250m (£185m), Smith predicts Markle’s business may struggle to thrive unless she hones her brand both as a business and as a public figure.
“Goop had a plan from the beginning, and it was simple and well-structured,” she said. “Meghan won’t stick to a rut; she’ll be an influencer first and then go back to tv and did some weird stuff, and then she did a podcast, which was weird too,” she said, referring to the maligned prototype.
“If you want to be the next Martha Stewart, do this,” Smith advises. “Don’t take pictures of yourself Near the bridge where Diana died Even to Paris Balenciaga showcrime! Hane [your image]: “My husband is a prince and I love staying at home with my kids” Whether that’s true or not, who cares?
“But she won’t,” Smith concluded.
Markle’s latest move comes as she is reportedly preparing to return to the UK for the first time in four years to join her husband at the Invincible Games event in Birmingham this July. Can this return reshape her image? “Her die-hard fans buy what she sells, no matter where she is,” Smith observed. “You love her or hate her, just like you do with Trump.
“She could go back to the UK and try to revive some of that aspirational princess energy here, maybe incorporate her brand into Fortnum & Mason – no A place like Soho House – for her followers who are in tune with her female boss, a bit of a vibe. But, from the monarchy’s perspective, some people will never forgive her for what happened. Whether she’s in America or England, they won’t waver. Her reputation here is permanently damaged. ”
When Markle announced her latest “relaxation” product, the standalone bookmarks sold out within minutes, with the entire “relaxation” set not far behind. “For the chapters you want to savor the most…” the trailer tells fans ahead of its release. “Quiet pause. Thoughtful bundling,” the announcement added. While it’s completely impossible to predict which direction the brand will turn next, the advice from experts is clear and simple: err on the side of caution and think carefully about bookmarking your next chapter.