Meghan Markle hopes As Ever will ‘bring joy’ during a ‘time of recession’ – and reveals why Trump’s tariffs WON’T affect her products

Meghan Markle has said she wants her As Ever products to bring ‘joy’ during a ‘time of recession’ – and does not expect Donald Trump‘s tariffs to impact the range.

The first items from the Duchess of Sussex‘s lifestyle brand sold out within an hour of going on sale last Wednesday – the same day the President announced his levies.

But she has insisted her As Ever brand, a joint venture with Netflix, is well positioned for uncertain economic times, because the products are all made in America.

Meghan also referred to a ‘time of recession’ amid fears of an economic downturn as countries brace for potential damage from import taxes on goods entering the US.

A recession is defined as two consecutive three-month periods of economic contraction, with the last so-called ‘Great Recession’ between 2007 and 2009.

The Duchess told business publication Fortune: ‘At the moment, all of our products are currently made in the US, so we don’t anticipate tariffs affecting us directly.

‘But as we look at the larger context of how this is going to affect the consumer day to day, I’m very grateful that in part of the conception of this brand, I wanted to create products that look more prestige, but are more accessible and affordable.

‘I think during any time of recession, people still want to find creature comforts, items that can bring them joy.’

She pointed out that the ‘bulk of our SKUs’ – a reference to ‘stock keeping units’ or products – for As Ever cost under $20 (£16), adding: ‘From our standpoint, certainly for me, even in the expansion of the brand, things should still feel accessible.’

Meghan’s $14 (£11) jam and a collection of herbal teas, flower sprinkles and luxury honey were all snapped up by shoppers soon after As Ever began taking orders.

While the exact number of products it sold has not been confirmed, the company said it was ‘tens of thousands’.

Some of the goods feature in her cooking and lifestyle Netflix series With Love, Meghan, which is seen as a make-or-break moment for the Sussexes who signed a $100million (£78million) deal with the streaming platform in 2020.

The show received a string of critical reviews when it was released on March 4 but became the tenth most-watched programme on the streaming platform and will return for a second series.

The Duchess also released the first episode of her new podcast Confessions of a Female Founder on the Lemonada Media network yesterday.

This came out on the same day Meghan’s husband Prince Harry appeared at the High Court in London for the latest stage in his legal challenge over the level of security he is given when he is in the UK.

Speaking about how the As Ever tie-up with Netflix came about, Meghan told Fortune that she had been sending Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria and Netflix co-chief executive Ted Sarandos homemade jams for years.

She said Ms Bajaria told her: ‘You need to teach people how to do this’, with Meghan adding that ‘from that moment she was very excited about the possibility of a show’.

Ms Bajaria was said to have encouraged her to talk to the Netflix consumer products team about a partnership, which saw her connect with Josh Simon, Netflix’s vice president of consumer products.

Meghan added: ‘I can’t speak to the specifics of the terms of the deal. We are very, very much in harmony on how we see the growth of this, and the trajectory over the next five to seven years.’

As Ever has generated headlines around the world and Meghan and actress Gwyneth Paltrow posted a social media video of themselves together to counter reports of a feud centred around the Duchess’s brand and Paltrow’s wellness company Goop.

Fans of Meghan bought her raspberry spread in keepsake packaging for $14 (£11), and for those who missed out it will be available later without the circular box for $9 (£7).

As Ever was originally called American Riviera Orchard but the name was switched just weeks before the launch after the Duchess faced trademarking setbacks.

Its herbal teas – lemon ginger, peppermint and hibiscus – sold for $12 (£9) each, while the limited-edition wildflower honey with honeycomb cost $28 (£22) and flower sprinkles $15 (£12) which Meghan uses frequently and refers to in her Netflix series.

The last items to sell out were the crepe mix and shortbread cookie mix both priced at $14 (£11).

Meghan’s comment on tariffs is the latest development in tense relations between the President and the Sussexes, who live in Montecito, California.

Mr Trump has lambasted Harry since he left Britain in 2020, criticising him for the ‘unforgiveable betrayal’ of his late grandmother Queen Elizabeth II.

He also suggested in March last year that Harry could be deported from the US if his drug use was not declared on his visa application.

Then this February, the President ruled out deporting Harry, telling the New York Post: ‘I’ll leave him alone. He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible.’

It comes as an American think-tank has been trying to reopen its case to get Harry’s secret visa application made public after he admitted taking drugs in his memoir.

The Heritage Foundation alleged the duke may have concealed past illegal drug use that should have disqualified him from obtaining a US visa.

They previously argued answers on Harry’s prior drug use in his visa application should have been disclosed as they could raise questions over the US government’s integrity.

A judge in Washington DC ruled in September last year that Harry’s US visa application should remain private.

In documents relating to the case that were made public last month, a chief freedom of information officer within the US Department for Homeland Security (DHS) could be seen to argue that releasing the material ‘would potentially expose the individual to harm from members of the public’.

Meghan has previously been a vocal critic of Mr Trump and called him ‘divisive’ and a ‘misogynist’.

The Duchess had said she was backing his rival Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US presidential election and suggested she would leave the US if he won.

Then in September 2020, soon after Harry and Meghan had moved to the US, the couple urged American voters to ‘reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity’ in that year’s election which was eventually won by Joe Biden.

While the Sussexes did not endorse a candidate, the wording of their video message prompted accusations that they were referring to Mr Trump and had therefore breached UK protocol keeping members of the Royal Family political neutrality.

Mr Trump was then asked during a White House briefing for his reaction to their comments, and said: ‘I’m not a fan of hers (Meghan) and I would say this, and she probably has heard that. But I wish a lot of luck to Harry, cause he’s going to need it.’

Mr Trump also said in February last year that Harry would be ‘on his own’ if he won the November election and claimed the Duke had ‘betrayed the Queen’.

Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, he also said the Biden administration had been ‘too gracious’ to Harry since he moved to the US.

Mr Trump told the Daily Express: ‘I wouldn’t protect him. He betrayed the Queen. That’s unforgivable. He would be on his own if it was down to me.’

Then in March 2024, Nigel Farage asked Mr Trump on GB News whether Harry should receive any ‘special privileges’ if authorities determined that he lied on his visa application.

Mr Trump responded: ‘No. We’ll have to see if they know something about the drugs, and if he lied they’ll have to take appropriate action.’

Asked whether ‘appropriate action’ meant the Duke ‘not staying in America,’ Mr Trump said: ‘Oh I don’t know. You’ll have to tell me. You just have to tell me. You would have thought they would have known this a long time ago.’

And Mr Trump’s son Eric Trump suggested in an interview with MailOnline last October that Harry’s US visa is safe because ‘no one cares’ about the Duke or his ‘unpopular’ wife Meghan.

Eric told MailOnline that Mr Trump ‘loved the Queen’ and lamented how Harry had done a ‘huge detriment’ to the royal family after leaving the UK.

But he added: ‘I don’t give a damn if he did drugs. It means nothing. I can tell you that our father and our entire family has tremendous respect for the monarchy.’

In February last year, Harry raised the prospect of US citizenship when speaking with ABC’s Good Morning America – saying he had considered the idea but it was ‘not a high priority.

The royal said he was ‘loving’ his new life in America so much he may take the citizenship test – even though doing so would force him to relinquish his royal titles.