Meghan Markle launched her lifestyle brand As Ever yesterday, where her available products, including jam, honey and herbal teas, sold out within an hour of being live. To promote the brand, the Duchess of Sussex gave the New York Times a rare interview where she briefly addressed criticism claiming that she’s not relatable. 'Don’t they know my life hasn’t always been like this?' she asked.
The outlet pointed out that before meeting her now-husband Prince Harry in 2016, Meghan was 'divorced, in her mid-30s, and unsure where her next job or home would be.'
FIND OUT MORE ON ELLE COLLECTIVE
Read Next
Meghan launched As Ever, along with her Netflix show With Love, Meghan and upcoming podcast Confessions of a Female Founder, because she likes having a career. She hadn’t been without a job since she was 13, long before meeting Harry, she said. 'I need to work, and I love to work. This is a way I can connect my home life [raising children Lilibet and Archie] and my work.'
Meghan doesn’t look at her Instagram’s comments section, the newspaper wrote. Her team monitors that along with discussions about her on social media.
Meghan has historically made a point to avoid reading coverage about herself. She told Vanity Fair back in 2017, 'I don’t read any press. I haven’t even read press for Suits [the show she was on at the time]. The people who are close to me anchor me in knowing who I am. The rest is noise.'
A month ago, Meghan spoke to People about her post-royal life and how the development of As Ever has had 'tonnes of twists and turns — even with the name.' (The line was originally called American Riviera Orchard.) 'I was figuring it out in real time,' she explained.
She added, 'I appreciate everyone who gave me the grace to make mistakes and figure it out and also to be forgiving with myself through that. It’s a learning curve.'
Stepping back into the lifestyle space has also had a positive impact on her marriage. 'My husband met me when I had The Tig [Meghan’s former blog], and I see this spark in his eye when he sees me doing the thing that I was doing when he first met me,' she said. 'It’s almost like a honeymoon period again because it’s exactly how it was in the beginning when he’d watch me scribbling away, writing newsletters, fine-tuning edits and just really being in the details of it. I think he loves watching as much as I love doing that creative process. It’s just been fun. This is who I’ve always been.'
ELLE Collective is a new community of fashion, beauty and culture lovers. For access to exclusive content, events, inspiring advice from our Editors and industry experts, as well the opportunity to meet designers, thought-leaders and stylists, become a member today HERE.
