Photo: Jake Rosenberg/Netflix
Meghan Markle has taken a lot of flak for her two recent business endeavors: a Netflix lifestyle show and her product line, As ever. The eight-episode series With Love, Meghan pioneered “new frontiers in unrelatability,” per Vulture, as the Duchess poured things from one container into a prettier container and passive-aggressively informed Mindy Kaling that her last name is now Sussex. Meanwhile, it’s not entirely clear what products Meghan is selling (definitely food, maybe other stuff) or even how her brand’s new name should be styled (“American Riviera Orchard” is now either “As Ever” or “As ever”).
Nevertheless, like any true millennial girlboss, Meghan persisted. In a Monday-morning email to people who signed up for As ever updates, the Duchess of Sussex shed light on several of her products — but not too much light. The email does not say exactly when the products will go on sale. “I’m so excited to introduce the As ever collection to you this week,” Meghan teases. A click on the absolutely stunning photo of raspberry-jam-drenched crêpes brings you to the As ever website, which is similarly vague. Eight items are shown — including honey, teas, and “flower sprinkles” — but don’t bother looking for prices, product descriptions, or an exact launch date.
While we don’t learn a ton about Meghan’s wares, the email is full of other useful information. For anyone who subscribed for updates about a British royal’s Montecito-inspired home-goods brand but has never heard of crêpes, Meghan explains what they are (“streetside thin pancakes”), what they can do (house various other foodstuffs), and their deeper essence (they are a “canvas for flavor”).
And there are even free tips! Worried about what you’ll do with the packaging from your As ever raspberry spread, should you decide to purchase it for an unknown sum at some undetermined point in the future? Well, you can use the “keepsake packaging” to hold “love notes or special treasures” and to “remember this pivotal moment” with Meghan.
And that’s not all: Once you’ve slathered every last drop of jam on those “easy to make” crêpes, you can wash the jar out and use it for other stuff! Hopefully the Duchess has trademarked this idea; I have a feeling it’s going to be huge on “shabby chic” wedding Pinterest boards.
Upon further investigation, the most remarkable thing about the jar and its packaging is that Meghan has opted to present jam like fancy perfume:
And a video posted to Instagram last week revealed that us plebs will receive factory-produced jam, not the handmade stuff that Meghan sent to several dozen celebrity friends:
But I am still looking forward to making the “everyday exceptional” by reusing that jam box. I will surely “think of it as our time capsule” to remember that time both Meghan and I were kind of confused about the nature of her brand.
