Meghan Markle accused of ‘exploiting’ the Royal Family as rare Lilibet appearance causes a stir

Meghan Markle has come under fire for her lifestyle brand, with one royal commentator accusing the Duchess of “exploiting” her royal connections for advertising. 

In case you missed it, Markle this week announced the rebrand of her lifestyle company, changing the name from American Riviera Orchard to As Ever. She announced the news in an Instagram post that featured a cameo of her dog, Mamma Mia, as well as her husband, Prince Harry. While the rebrand might’ve been necessitated by a trademark war over the original name, Markle said in the video that changing to As Ever would allow her to be less “limited” in the products she wishes to sell. 

The Duchess marked the rebrand with the official launch of the accompanying website, which featured an image of herself and her youngest child, Princess Lilibet, frollicking in white gowns across a green field. While the young princess looks as cute as ever, Markle’s use of the photo has drawn the ire of royal commentator Hugo Vickers. “I’m personally rather against people using their children for advertising purposes,” he told The Sun, “especially when their children are officially members of the Royal Family.”

Vickers went on to make note of the “princely” titles given to both Lilibet and her older brother, Prince Archie, saying Markle was “exploiting the royal side” of her family in service of As Ever. What’s all the more surprising, at least according to Vickers, is that “we don’t often see the children” beyond “the back of the head… or a hand,” making Lilibet’s front-page spread on the As Ever website feel especially prominent. It’s worth noting, however, that the image on the website is taken quite far away from Markle and her daughter, and Lilibet’s face is mostly obscured from view. 

Meghan's Website, As Ever is LIVE.
Link 👇🏾 pic.twitter.com/WgIRg1eaVD

— Alexis is sowing discord in the West (@ArchewellBaby) February 18, 2025

In any case, since she is mostly absent from public view, the rare image of Princess Lilibet was described as “rather tantalising” by Vickers, because whenever she or her brother do appear “it’s like ‘gosh, there they are, they exist.’” The royal reporter’s comments come ahead of the official launch of As Ever, which will serve as a tie-in for Markle’s upcoming lifestyle Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. It’s thought that As Ever will be somewhat of a revival of The Tig, the lifestyle blog Markle ran prior to marrying Prince Harry. 

According to Vickers, the entire enterprise feels “incredibly commercial” and is “obviously aimed at marketing,” which, for the record, is what businesspeople do. Regardless, the As Ever website currently asks visitors to “reserve a seat at the table” ahead of its launch, with the name meaning “‘as it’s always been’ or some even say ‘in the same way as always,’” Markle said in the announcement. The phrase has also been used by Markle as a sign-off on her Instagram captions, since launching her account at the start of last month. 

The release of With Love, Meghan was delayed amid the Los Angeles wildfires, an event which itself saw Markle swept up in a storm of controversy. The eight-episode series will hit Netflix — which also partnered with Markle for As Ever — on March 4, with notable guests to include Mindy Kaling, Abigail Spencer, and of course Prince Harry. In the meantime, rest assured there’ll be plenty of commentary from people like Vickers, and that Lilibet will remain as cute As Ever.