There really is nothing quite like watching royalist twist themselves in knots to royalsplain why the Duchess of Sussex is talking about them or talking about the Windsors or making some reference to how all of those people are racist. Don’t get me wrong, I would f–king LOVE it if Meghan actually talked about those people half as much as they think she is. I would love it if Meghan gave monthly interviews describing in detail how those terrible people treated her. Instead, Meghan is doing a cooking and entertaining show and she’s launching a lifestyle brand which will basically be an extension of her pre-royal blog, The Tig. This is an AFFRONT to the royalists, because how dare she even mention her royal life (she did not) or briefly indicate that she would not have been free to continue The Tig while she lived in the UK. Behold, one of the funniest and saltiest pieces I’ve read about Meghan’s As Ever announcement – “It seems Meghan is still blaming the Royals for her woes” in The Telegraph.
The Duchess of Sussex has been seemingly prevented from sharing her true loves of cooking, crafting and gardening with the world. For the “past few years”, she says, “I haven’t been able to share it with you in the same way.” She does not use the words “because of the Royal family”, but anyone familiar with Sussex lore is likely to hear it as such.
Never mind that the Duchess produced a best-selling cookbook while a working member of the Royal family, that the King is one of the most famous gardeners in the world, or that the Sussexes have been free of royal duties for a full five years now. Not to mention, Highgrove has its own range of produce, or that princes, princesses and duchesses are invited to try their hand at some form of arts and crafts in half the royal engagements they do.
During her Instagram video, the joy and relief in the Duchess’s voice about being able to finally share her passions is clear: “Now,” she says, “I can.”
In the short, self-filmed edit the Duchess crouches in what appears to be a Montecito vegetable patch to address her fans directly. In doing so, she gives the best insight into the Sussexes that the public has had in years. She expresses the honest wish that “I can’t wait for you to get your hands on everything we’ve been creating” – albeit without using the word “buying”.
The Duchess’s Instagram version of events, sincerely believed and laden with emotion, is not quite the full story but will become the narrative anyway. Just as Elizabeth II suggested, “recollections may vary” compared with the Sussexes’ account of their time in her family, so too may those who have worked on the Duchess’ more recent projects.
The video includes giggles over “a lot of [public] curiosity!” about her fledgling business, although she does not explain how it came to her attention while she famously does not listen to the “noise”. The expressions and gestures that the Duchess’s followers are coming to know and love are all there: the half-whisper, the hand on forehead in a difficult moment, the influencer-style sign-off of “thanks guys!”
The brand name seems squarely aimed at an American audience. “As Ever” when said in Britain, lends itself too easily to jokes. Already people are inserting their own adjectives into “As ___ as ever!” or adding it as an easy punch line to the Duke and Duchess’s latest escapades. “The Sussexes are rebranding.” As Ever! “Was that a dig at the Royal family?” As Ever.
I’m dying: “Princes, princesses and duchesses are invited to try their hand at some form of arts and crafts in half the royal engagements they do.” Why did Meghan leave when she could have done crafts at her royal engagements? Why is she insinuating that she couldn’t have launched a lifestyle brand as a working royal when Charles created Duchy Originals?? Jeez. Again, Meghan didn’t mention those fools and now those fools are doing a “big stretch” to say that Meghan was slapping the king’s face by insinuating that she wouldn’t have been free to start As Ever in England! What’s also funny is that these royalist critics want to have it both ways: they want to constantly obsess over and scream about everything Meghan does, and when she outmaneuvers their stalking, they want to be able to claim that Meghan is wrong for even suggesting that they obsess over every little thing she does.
Photos courtesy of Instar, Meghan’s IG, As Ever site.
