Reports Claim Meghan Markle Wants King Charles to Give As Ever a Public Nod After the Family's UK Return

LONDON — A British celebrity magazine said this week that Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, hopes King Charles III will offer some public support for her lifestyle company, As Ever, as she and Prince Harry settle in Britain after years in California.

The claim, published by Closer and repeated by outlets including The News International, was attributed only to an unnamed "insider." Neither Buckingham Palace nor representatives for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex confirmed it. There is no public statement from the king endorsing the brand, and no photograph or social-media comment of the kind the magazine described.

Closer quoted its source as saying Meghan still intends to treat As Ever as a central project while she also pursues acting work, and that she wants to test whether the products can sell in Britain. The same source said a joint photograph posted online, or even a brief kind remark from the king on one of her posts, "would mean the world." Those lines have not been independently verified.

What can be established is the setting in which the rumor landed. Harry and Meghan returned to the United Kingdom in late August for what people close to them have described as an extended stay, not a full-time royal comeback. They have said they will live in a private home rather than an official royal residence and will keep running their own businesses. Their children have been enrolled in British schools. Page Six reported that the couple had been looking in the Cotswolds, near Highgrove House, the country home of the king and Queen Camilla.

That geography matters for the gossip. Highgrove already sells garden-related goods under the king's long-running country-life brand. As Ever sells jams, honey, teas, candles and California wine. The overlap is enough for tabloids to invent a partnership. It is not evidence that one exists.

As Ever began as American Riviera Orchard and was relaunched under its current name in early 2025. The first public drop, in April 2025, included raspberry jam, herbal teas, wildflower honey and a cookie mix and sold out quickly. A Napa Valley rosé followed in July 2025. Netflix helped underwrite the first year, in tandem with Meghan's lifestyle series "With Love, Meghan." In March 2026 the companies said they would separate.

"As ever is grateful for Netflix's partnership through launch and our first year," a spokesperson for the brand said. "We have experienced meaningful and rapid growth and As ever is now ready to stand on its own."

Netflix said the split had been planned. "Meghan's passion for elevating everyday moments in beautiful yet simple ways inspired the creation of the As ever brand, and we are glad to have played a role in bringing that vision to life," the company said. "As it was always intended, Meghan will continue growing the brand and take it into its next chapter independently."

Meghan has described the line in her own words on the company site. "As ever, for me, is an extension of how I love," she wrote. "Through thoughtful gestures and small details, I hope this collection brings you as much joy as it does for those I hold close." When she announced the name change, she said "'As ever' means 'as it's always been'" and called the project an extension of the food, gardening and entertaining she had written about for years on her old blog, The Tig.

The New York Times reported in August that As Ever would remain a California-based brand sold in the United States even as the family packed up Montecito. That does not rule out a later British push. It does mean that, as of last month, the commercial plan on the record was continuity in America, not a palace-backed launch in Britain.

The family relationship with the king has thawed in public view without becoming a working-royal arrangement. Buckingham Palace confirmed that Charles, Camilla, Harry, Meghan, Archie and Lilibet met privately at Highgrove in July, the first time the king had seen his youngest grandchildren since 2022. Palace officials would not discuss the length or substance of the visit. People close to Charles said he wanted the gathering and wanted it kept private.

Earlier in the summer, celebrity magazines reported gift baskets and Instagram posts that included the king's picture. Those accounts also relied on unnamed sources. What is visible on the public record is more limited: a reunion the palace acknowledged, a subsequent move to Britain the couple's camp described as family-driven, and a brand that keeps shipping pantry goods and wine.

Harry and Meghan stepped back from official royal duties in 2020. Queen Elizabeth II rejected their request for a hybrid role, saying the monarchy was not a part-time job. They have not been invited back onto the working-royal roster. Their commercial work — Netflix projects, speeches, As Ever, Archewell — is the structure they built instead.

That structure is now sitting closer to the institution they left. Greater visibility in Britain could help a consumer brand. It could also reopen old arguments about mixing private profit with royal proximity. No palace rule requires the king to like a daughter-in-law's jam. No brand statement has asked him to. The Closer story treats a hoped-for nod as a strategy. Without confirmation, it remains a magazine claim.

The political weather around the couple is mixed. President Donald Trump said on Sept. 2 that he was "glad" they had left the United States and that he "wouldn't have taken them back" if he were king, calling Meghan "terribly disrespectful" to Elizabeth II and to Charles. Those remarks are on tape. They are not a palace policy.

For As Ever, the immediate work is more ordinary. After the Netflix split, the company has kept adding seasonal products: blackberry jam, spiced apple butter, a Reserve Brut described on Instagram as "a new chapter to celebrate." The tone is hospitality, not heraldry.

Charles, 77, continues cancer treatment and a full official program. Meghan, 45, has been linked in entertainment reporting to possible acting work in Britain, including a rumored part in a Guy Ritchie series, while she remains the face of As Ever. Harry has said in past interviews that he wants a relationship with his father. None of those facts require a royal endorsement of a lifestyle label.

If the king ever did appear in a photograph with Meghan that the family then posted, or if he ever commented on an As Ever product, that would be news because it has not happened. Until someone on the record says it is planned, the responsible account is narrower: the Sussexes are in Britain, the brand is still selling, the palace has confirmed a private family meeting — and a celebrity magazine says she would like a public blessing that, so far, no official has offered.