A houndstooth blazer, a distinctly British Mulberry handbag and a doorway that evokes both London and Christmas: every detail in Meghan Markle’s latest promotional image appears carefully chosen.
Meghan’s public image is rarely left to chance, and the photograph—featured in the holiday catalogue for her As Ever brand—amounts to a carefully staged, festive reminder of Britain.
This is Meghan in her British lifestyle-influencer phase. Since As Ever launched in April 2025, complete with a crest featuring two hummingbirds and a palm tree, she has promoted the brand through scenes drawn largely from her Californian life: wide-brimmed sunhats, bright gardens and bare feet.
Now, however, she is presenting a more country-house version of herself—an image that recalls the world of Carole Bamford and her luxury wellness and organic-farming business, Daylesford Organic.
The shift could also be seen as testing the boundaries of the Sandringham agreement, under which Meghan and Prince Harry agreed with the late Queen not to remain part-time working royals after Megxit. The Sussexes have made clear this year that they never accepted the arrangement on those terms.
So, following a royal-style day of charity appearances in Nottingham, Meghan is once again offering the public something to buy—this time as a distinctly British hostess.
The product is not jam, but a new collection marketed as a more refined approach to entertaining, with an unmistakably British aesthetic.
As Ever is selling blue-and-white tableware, including a porcelain Trellis teapot priced at $98 (£73) and a matching teacup and saucer costing $68 (£51).
The Duchess of Sussex wears a houndstooth blazer and carries a Mulberry handbag in a promotional image from her As Ever holiday catalogue
The range also includes a leather notebook containing a British penny in a front pocket and stamped with the phrase, “A penny for your thoughts.” It costs $185 (£138), while the collection’s most expensive item is a tablecloth priced at $398 (£297).
Seasonal shopping continues regardless of circumstances, but it has been an exceptionally turbulent week for the Sussexes.
Questions surrounding disturbing allegations involving Meghan’s father, Thomas Markle, have continued to dominate the headlines. He denies the allegations.
Yesterday, this publication reported Thomas Markle to the FBI after discovering what was described as a stash of child pornography in a storage unit he rented near his former home in Mexico. The development is understood to have caused further distress for Meghan, who is said to have briefly left Britain with Harry and their children, Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five.
“She’s just really, really upset,” a friend told Hello! magazine this week. “She keeps on looking at Lili and she’s in tears, and thinking about all the children, the alleged victims. It’s just devastating.”
The week also brought unfavorable polling. A YouGov survey published on Thursday suggested that Harry and Meghan are now less popular than they were before returning to Britain in August.
Harry was viewed positively by 29 percent of Britons, down four points since July, while 60 percent held an unfavorable opinion. Meghan received a 20 percent positive rating and a 68 percent negative rating, giving her a net score of minus 48—the lowest recorded by YouGov.
In other words, more than two-thirds of respondents expressed an unfavorable view of the Duchess of Sussex. Only Andrew, the former Duke of York, ranked lower.
Meghan and Harry embrace their children, Archie and Lilibet, in an image posted by the couple last Christmas
The couple’s reported strategy for returning to public life—keep a low profile, avoid apologies and focus on charitable work—does not appear to have delivered the hoped-for results so far.
Perhaps, some observers suggest, the public expects an apology before offering a second chance.
That is the view of royal author Robert Jobson, who said this week: “I am not mean-spirited. But I believe that to be granted a second chance you must first earn it. Oh, and yes, you need to apologise for what you did wrong too . . . and mean it. As yet, this entitled pair—H & M—haven’t, and don’t think they should.”
Has the Sussexes’ high-risk return therefore faltered? Friends dismiss claims of a crisis, as well as reports that the couple could abandon Britain after Christmas and return permanently to Montecito, California.
“There is no buyer’s remorse!” one source insists.
The family is said to be taking a short, pre-planned break outside the UK, possibly at their home in Portugal, before returning this weekend. The timing is intended to ensure the children are back in time for the second half of term at their new schools. During their stay in Britain, they have been living at a wealthy friend’s Cotswolds estate.
According to those close to the couple, there is no intention of abandoning what has been described as a reverse Megxit. One source said: “They have definitely not gone back to Montecito for half term. They are just away for a few days. They have been focused on the children spending some time with their new English friends as they are still very much settling in.
“After half term it will be a big change for Archie as they start to play sport on Saturdays. They are still absolutely committed to their life in Britain and to making it work.”
As Ever is selling blue-and-white crockery, including a porcelain Trellis teapot for $98 (£73) and a teacup and saucer for $68 (£51)
The friend added: “Meghan is trying to fit into British society and doing a lot of things differently from last time around.
“When she was first here, after moving to the UK and marrying Prince Harry, she wanted her clothes to send messages about particular designers or causes. She understands now that people do not want that. A lesson has been learned.
“She wants to appear low-key and respectful rather than arriving with all guns blazing. This is very early days, a new chapter, and they are proceeding carefully.
“She needs one of the local grandes dames to take her under her wing. It only takes one matriarch!”
That may prove difficult, however, with little evidence so far that the couple have made significant social inroads in either the Cotswolds or London.
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American friends have visited, and Meghan has spent time with US comedian Ellen DeGeneres, who lives in the Cotswolds. Beyond a handful of sightings at Soho Farmhouse, though, the couple have largely been absent from the social circuit.
The lack of invitations may reflect some hesitation among Britain’s social elite. Even so, people close to Harry and Meghan insist they genuinely want to be accepted in the UK and contribute through charitable work.
The couple are expected to make another joint public appearance before Christmas, while Harry has several further charity engagements yet to be announced.
Those in their circle also argue that too much importance should not be attached to a poll of 2,000 people.
“The whole vibe in the country is generally soaring, people can see that they are not bad people,” the friend said. “They were so happy with the Nottingham visit. They are looking seriously at where and when to buy now, but I know that the place they are in has started to feel special to them, so there is no rush.”
He continued: “They are very well aware that they need to build bridges. They really have gone out of their way to make a quiet start and to be humble. The King sees Harry as a naughty rogue and really there is no problem between father and son. They chat regularly and things are all moving in the right direction.
“There was a sense of trepidation in coming back for both of them, particularly Meghan.
“It was a heart-wrenching moment giving up her life in Montecito and returning to a country which, rightly or wrongly, had not made her feel especially welcome.
“She knew that she was, to some extent, unwelcome in the UK. There were deep breaths before making the decision. It was made for the sake of the family, because they believed Britain would be the best place to educate the children, that an English private-school education was second to none, and that Archie needed to start this year alongside his peers.
“They remain committed to that plan, although there have been discussions about taking a different route for secondary school rather than choosing Eton, Wellington or Marlborough.
“They are UK residents now and will be for decades to come, but they have discussed sending the children abroad for secondary education.” One possibility is boarding at Upper Canada College, a leading private school in Toronto.
Meghan is expected to continue dividing her time between Britain and the United States as she develops As Ever and considers further media opportunities.
A third season of the Netflix series The Gentlemen will not be among them. Reports that she was in discussions for a role in the gangster drama—stories that appeared to emerge from Sussex circles around the time of their UK return—did not result in casting.
Her next move became clearer when Ari Emanuel, her former agent and the former chairman of William Morris Endeavor, said several weeks ago that she was “actually getting booked” for reality and television projects by other members of his team.
This week, it was announced that Meghan will serve as a guest judge on Junior MasterChef, which will be filmed in Melbourne next year. She spent a day filming the Australian edition of MasterChef while visiting the country with Harry this spring.
In a statement, she said: “I had an incredible time with the whole team at MasterChef this past April, so when they approached me to come back and work with this young group of talent, it was an easy yes.
“I love cooking with my own kids, so seeing what these young stars create in the kitchen is going to be a lot of fun. I can’t wait to see what they cook up.”
The appearance is expected to be more substantial than a brief guest spot. “She is going to go for a few weeks,” a source said. Despite speculation, “none of the family will go, it will just be her.”
The source added: “She will continue to work in the US and globally and be very, very careful about what she does in the UK and how she does it. She is aware that the consequences if she gets the optics wrong can be really bad.”
Further announcements are expected involving new patronages and projects with UK charities, particularly those focused on women, children and online harms.
The allegations involving Thomas Markle have also continued to develop. His son, Thomas Markle Jr, has told a newspaper that he discovered what he described as a disturbing collection of child sexual-abuse material among his father’s belongings. Police in the Philippines are investigating.
The Metropolitan Police has also referred itself to the police watchdog over its handling of allegations concerning Thomas Markle and its failure to pass them to the FBI and other overseas agencies.
In 2019, the force received a letter accusing Meghan’s father of child sexual offenses and crimes abroad. It took no action beyond giving a copy of the letter—believed to have been written by Mr Markle’s late former wife, Roslyn Loveless—to the duchess.
The Met was later forced to ask Meghan for a copy of the letter after the new allegations emerged, having reportedly lost the original.
Meghan said in a statement last week: “I am deeply distressed at the news that has come to light in the last 24 hours, and my thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed. In 2018 [sic], a letter was sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection [Rasp]. That letter was subsequently shared with me. It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father and I was given assurances that these were being investigated.
“I hope it can now be understood that, despite certain media publications’ distortion over the years, any distance from my father, and my choice to not allow him to have contact with our children, was for one reason: to protect them. I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families.
“Although the breadth of what has now been uncovered is more sickening than one could ever imagine, my sincerest hope is that justice will be fully served and that the priority remains the safety and protection of innocent children.”
One source disputed reports that Meghan had spent the week in tears over her father. Instead, the source said, she felt “relieved” that the allegations were now receiving wider public attention.
“She is relieved that it is being looked into properly and she is also relieved to some extent that things are out in the public because she feels that the way it’s being dealt with now indicates how significant it is,” he said. “She just wants the right outcome for any victims.”
The source added of Thomas Markle: “There has always been a thick layer of oddity about the man.”
It is a connection the duchess will be keen to leave behind as she continues building a new public identity around family life, business and domestic glamour.
