'It seems Meghan Markle is still blaming the British royal family for her woes'
By Hannah Furness
The Duchess of Sussex has been seemingly prevented from sharing her true loves of cooking, crafting and gardening with the world.
For the "past few years", she says, "I haven't been able to share it with you in the same way."
She does not use the words "because of the Royal family", but anyone familiar with Sussex lore is likely to hear it as such.
Watch the video above.
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'It seems Meghan Markle is still blaming the British royal family for her woes'. Instagram/@meghan
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Never mind that the Duchess produced a best-selling cookbook while a working member of the Royal family, that the King is one of the most famous gardeners in the world, or that the Sussexes have been free of royal duties for a full five years now.
Not to mention, Highgrove has its own range of produce, or that princes, princesses and duchesses are invited to try their hand at some form of arts and crafts in half the royal engagements they do.
During her Instagram video, the joy and relief in the Duchess's voice about being able to finally share her passions is clear: "Now," she says, "I can."
In the short, self-filmed edit the Duchess crouches in what appears to be a Montecito vegetable patch to address her fans directly.
In doing so, she gives the best insight into the Sussexes that the public has had in years.
She expresses the honest wish that "I can't wait for you to get your hands on everything we've been creating" – albeit without using the word "buying".
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It also features the obligatory inclusion of the Duke telling his wife that her camera is on before leaving.
The impression is that history is being rewritten. All of Sussex life is here.
The Duchess is relaunching her lifestyle brand, she tells us.
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Her original idea, "American Riviera Orchard", sounded like a "great name" but "limited me to things that were just manufactured and grown in this area".
As such, she claims, she is changing her mind to go back to her real roots.
There is no mention of the fact that American Riviera Orchard ran into such extensive copyright issues that it had to be completely reimagined or dropped.
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9Honey/Tara Blancato
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No mention of the fact that the Duchess had already soft-launched its first product, a website and a social media campaign and that this is a complete about-turn in her plans.
In fact, she intimates, it is what she wanted all along.
"So I thought about it and I've been waiting for a moment to share a name that I had secured in 2022 and this is the moment," she says, nodding with determination. "And it's called As Ever."
The new new brand, she said, was a return to her lifestyle blogging days, explaining helpfully that "As Ever essentially means 'as it's always been'."
The Duchess's Instagram version of events, sincerely believed and laden with emotion, is not quite the full story but will become the narrative anyway.
Just as Elizabeth II suggested, "recollections may vary" compared with the Sussexes' account of their time in her family, so too may those who have worked on the Duchess' more recent projects.
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The video includes giggles over "a lot of [public] curiosity!" about her fledgling business, although she does not explain how it came to her attention while she famously does not listen to the "noise".
"The cat's out of the bag," the Duchess said after plans for As Ever did the rounds on social media and were put to the Sussexes' team by the world's press.
Her excitement over partnering with Netflix to sell her wares is palpable ("huge!" she says).
There is tacit acknowledgement of all those teasing headlines about jam. "Of course there will be fruit preserves. I think we're all clear at this point that jam is my jam."
The expressions and gestures that the Duchess's followers are coming to know and love are all there: the half-whisper, the hand on forehead in a difficult moment, the influencer-style sign-off of "thanks guys!"
The brand, she said, is an "extension of what has always been my love language", not least her mission of "finding joy in the everyday".
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Meghan's video also included a rare glimpse at Lilibet. As Ever
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"I will keep sharing behind the scenes titbits with you here as we ramp up to launch," she promised of her Netflix show, which airs on March 4.
The brand name seems squarely aimed at an American audience.
"As Ever" when said in Britain, lends itself too easily to jokes.
Already people are inserting their own adjectives into "As ___ as ever!" or adding it as an easy punch line to the Duke and Duchess's latest escapades.
"The Sussexes are rebranding." As Ever!
© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2025
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