Meghan Markle has faced a lot of criticism for her solo projects lately, including her widely-mocked Netflix show, With Love, Meghan, and her new podcast with Lemonada Media to name just two.
She has also been slammed for some of the interviews she’s given to promote these ventures – who could forget the internet’s reaction to the “utterly ridiculous” story she told People about Prince Archie telling her not to work too hard?! – but that hasn’t stopped her from speaking out again.
The Duchess of Sussex, 43, opened up to Inc[dot]com about her relaunched lifestyle brand As Ever (formerly known as American Riviera Orchard) in a brand new interview, teasing fans with what they can expect to launch in the coming months.
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Meghan Markle Discusses 'As Ever' Success In New Interview
In the interview, the mom-of-two addressed the immediate success of her first As Ever launch on April 2nd – which included fruit spreads, honey, flower sprinkles, and teas – which rather impressively sold out in under an hour.
The With Love, Meghan star assured fans who were disappointed to have missed out that there will be more of the aforementioned items on the way very soon, while also confirming that the brand won't be limited to culinary items, with home goods and hospitality products set to be added in the near future.
Meghan told Inc. that she wanted her lifestyle brand to be an authentic extension of her "essence," saying: "I hope that people see that reflected in whatever it is that I'm creating and putting out there. It's just an extension of me."
Meghan Markle Issues Apology To Shoppers Who Accidentally Purchased Sold-Out Products
Although the first As Ever launch sold out in under an hour, the former Suits actress wasn't celebrating for too long, as there was quite a big hiccup with one of the products. The brand sadly had to send out an apology to many fans who purchased the $28 Limited-Edition Wildflower Honey with Honeycomb to tell them that it had accidentally been oversold, and they wouldn't be getting the item. Oops!
According to GB News, the email read: "The excitement created a volume of traffic on the site that even we couldn't have anticipated (with everything selling out in an hour.) The orders were happening so quickly that the backend of the site didn't have a chance to keep up. The Limited-Edition Honey that you purchased was, unfortunately, already sold out."
The brand reportedly offered disappointed fans another As Ever item free of charge, and told them: "We are working on replenishing inventory and will gladly send you an item of your choosing to thank you for your understanding."
The fans also received a personal message from Meghan herself, which read: "Dear friend, my goodness, what a whirlwind this week has been! Thank you so much for the support. It really means so much to me."
She went on: "I was so sorry to hear about what happened with your order, and that due to overselling we are not able to get you the Limited-Edition Honey."
Meghan then promised fans they would still receive the honey when it eventually becomes available, and didn't need to take any further steps. "No need to order, it will come to you in the mail as a gift from me," she confirmed.
Internet Reactions
As expected, the internet had many, many thoughts – most of them negative! "There was only one pot and she bought that herself," quipped one person on a GB News article.
"Pure drivel. There were about 5 of each item. She was just trying to gauge the interest level which I'm guessing was as limited as her initial stock of virtually zero. Conwoman, pure & simple," agreed a second, as a third echoed: "Probably only a dozen made. The honey is a ridiculous price!"
"I would bet that only a very few number of jars of jam and honey were on sale so that they could say that the products had sold out in under an hour to give the impression that the launch was successful," speculated another reader. "Some people obviously have more money than sense," slammed another, while someone else said: "No one believes it sold out. Everything she does is fake. She has zero talent and the only thing she did that made her money was to marry one of the spares."
"Anyone stupid enough to allow themselves to get ripped off buying this massively overpriced tat deserves to be disappointed," commented another non-fan, before going on to criticize the technology. "Also it seems the Sussex rip-off machine tried to do the IT on the cheap," they continued, adding: "Any proper online sales system would have automatically scaled up according to spikes in demand, and the tech to do that has been around for decades – I say this as a former IT professional specializing in high transaction volume websites. Pathetic, just like the Montecito muppets."
