Is Meghan Markle's As Ever in trouble?

It’s clear that the Duchess of Sussex has put all her organic free range eggs in one proverbial money-making basket. Her jam, wine and homeware line ‘As Ever’ launched with huge fanfare last year and was to be the golden egg (if you’ll excuse the continued fowl puns) in the Sussexes' commercial schemes.

Their exclusive Netflix deal was over, Spotify had dumped them, the two books signed up to the Archewell media slate had no producers with no signs of filming starting soon and it was clear that With Love Meghan was not going to be recommissioned.

Added to this was the ‘restructuring’ of their Archewell charity, which essentially meant letting staff go to save costs. Selling her As Ever products depended on her restoring her status in America and making repeated appearances at star-studded events.

This she did all through last autumn and winter. Engagements in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Washington, New York and Paris (remember that front row appearance for Balenciaga?) culminated with the Christmas cover of Harper’s Bazaar.

Or, as she would call her make-or-break-bid for commercial success, ‘her own next chapter.’

So imagine how flabbergasted I was to receive a Whats-App from Team Sussex telling me that As Ever and Netflix were breaking up.

And the reason? Because Meghan was being ‘held back’ by ‘cautious’ Netflix (who had invested a whole load of money in the brand). I think I was cooking my kids’ tea and I literally dropped the fish fingers when I saw that.

Alongside a breathless statement from the Duchess saying she was thrilled to now ‘stand on her own’ while Netflix had an even stranger claim that ‘it was always intended’ that Meghan would ‘continue independently’. Right….

Let’s remind ourselves of what Meghan said just last February when she announced the rebrand from American Riviera Orchard and said Netflix was ‘not just’ her show partner but also ‘partner in my business, which is huge.’

The idea that Netflix would pull out of a soaraway successful business feels…. Unlikely.

This, coupled with the fact that a website glitch in January revealed unsold stock totalling £16.3million including 220,000 jars of jam, makes me think As Ever could be struggling. Sure - I could be completely wrong.

But what’s also strange is Harry and Meghan’s upcoming visit to Australia. I assumed she was going to launch As Ever, given that currently it’s only sold in the USA. But while she may be having ‘meetings with potential partners and supply chains’ (says her spokesman), the focus of the trip seems to be a speaker’s event at Sydney’s Coogee Beach.

I’m assuming the Aussie podcast hosting the £1,705 a ticket three-day event where Meghan will be the guest speaker is paying for her airfare and expenses. Harry is also doing a speaking event in Melbourne - rumoured to be earning him £30,000.

I know that launching a business takes a huge amount of time and effort, with many bumps in the road along the way. But it does rather feel as if the Sussexes are a long way from where they wanted to be when they left as working royals six years ago.