Instagram/Getty
Meghan Markle might have a problem – a whopping $AU7 million dollar one according to reports, as the expiry dates on her As Ever branded jams, teas and tins of flower sprinkles loom on the horizon.
Royal expert Alison Boshoff reported on the potential crisis in an article for Daily Mail on June 12, in which she claimed there was more chance of King Charles “taking a swim in a pool of [Meghan’s] homemade conserve than her selling all her stock” before the expiry dates run out.
The reason for the excess product? A reported drop in customers heading to the As Ever website, as claimed by Newsweek, which tracked how visitor numbers had fallen by 33 per cent between January and April.
Boshoff wrote that As Ever could face losses of more than $AU7million because of the jam issue alone.
Now, sources tell Woman’s Day that there are murmurings in Hollywood that As Ever could be “bankrupt by the end of the year” if it does not manage to sell through the stock.
“Meghan just can’t move enough product and she can’t expect to sell things at full price with shortened expiration dates,” an insider shares. “Unless she and Harry have some miracle up their sleeve, there might be no saving this business.
“She should hold a sale but she knows she’s going to be wrecked over it. It’s kicking the can down the road though because it’s tick-tock on that As Ever stock.”
The financial woes appear to be having an impact beyond the business, as an insider tells Woman’s Day that Prince Harry is finding it “hard to move on from”.
“Meghan has all kinds of plans to turn [the business] around, but it’s been the same pattern for years now,” the source claims.
“He’s blown most of his inheritance on what’s becoming clear are nothing more than passion projects.”
It’s not the first time questions have been raised over the As Ever brand’s success.
Another insider previously told Boshoff that, “The whole thing about her [As Ever] stuff selling out isn’t true any more”, adding of Meghan and Harry: “I don’t think either of them are happy [about it].”
A source previously told royal expert Dan Wakeford – former editor of People – that Harry and Meghan now have “five years, roughly” until their lifestyle “looks a lot different”.
“The picture that emerges is of a strategy and a commercial operation in freefall,” royal expert Tom Sykes wrote on The Royalist substack.
“The fashion deals haven’t materialised. The brand partnerships haven’t come. The big names – Balenciaga, Dior, Chanel – have not called.”
However, a friend of the Sussexes had a word of warning.
“The Newsweek story [about As Ever website traffic falling] has a lot of inaccuracy and I think we can all agree that polls have forever been a source of misleading information,” they told Daily Mail.
