Perhaps Meghan Sussex (Markle) says it best herself. “Meghan is a major advocate for mental health, family care, and gender equity. The Duchess hopes to be a cultural catalyst for positive change, reflecting her core belief that representation matters, and that communities can be enhanced through learning, healing, and inspirational support.” Boldly declaring herself a feminist in the first sentence of her biography, Meghan has always made one thing clear to the public – she is a believer in equitable change, inclusion, and the rights of all to enjoy a homemade jam. Or maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. 

A disclaimer before we get started – I’m a fan of Meghan. I have been since she was on the cover of Vanity Fair in 2017 (with the headline “Wild About Harry!”) following Prince Harry coming out swinging against her critics, boldly (and correctly) calling the attacks racist. (Strangely, this statement appears to have been deleted from the Royal Family’s website.) I admired her modern feminism and unapologetic ambition. I’ve never seen Suits and didn’t read her blog The Tig, but I enjoyed watching her from afar after becoming familiar with her. Little did I know that opinion would be considered a hot take a few short years later! But we’re not here today to talk about the vitriol that Meghan (and to a lesser extent, Harry) has been forced to endure. We’re here to talk about her many business ventures and what I think of her latest one, her new lifestyle brand called As Ever. 

Not that I expect any, but I want to make it clear that any racist or hateful comments on this post regarding Meghan and her family will not be tolerated. At the end of the day, I believe Meghan and Harry are lovely people raising young children. They deserve some peace. 

Now, let’s dive into the business life of a Royal Girl Boss. 

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May 5, 2014: Meghan launches The Tig

“In the interest of taking good luck wherever I can find it, today marks the launch of The Tig,” MM in The Tig’s inaugural post. 

The Tig, Meghan’s lifestyle blog, was the beginning of Meghan’s business ventures. Three years into acting as Rachel Zane on Suits, I imagine Meghan was looking for another creative outlet. The mid-2010’s was the height of personal blogs and The Tig came about at the perfect time. At its height, the blog assisted Meghan in gaining over 3 million Instagram followers before its deactivation in 2017. 

The Tig featured posts on food, travel, beauty, and wellness. There were how-to’s, and travel tips, and Meghan interviewed chefs, designers, and friends. Her Q&A seemed to ask the following questions: 

1. My nickname is _. 
2. The first thing I do when I wake up is _. 
3. I can’t live without _.  
4. If I had one week to escape _. 
5. If I only had $10 in my pocket _. 
6. Everything tastes better with_. 

You may wonder how Meghan made money from this venture. The answer is simple: affiliate links and advertisers. 

Affiliate links first became popular in the 2010s. Mention a lipstick you like? Link it and watch the money roll in. At that time, it wasn’t a requirement for bloggers, YouTubers, or other influencers to let their audience know they were making money off of their purchases – they were able to make their recommendations, add the link, and make thousands of dollars off of their audience. It wasn’t until later in the 2010s that the FTC caught on to this practice and required some sort of disclaimer on this practice. 

I’m unsure if Meghan made a disclaimer to her readers on affiliate links, but I’m certain that she was bringing money in from them once The Tig hit its stride. The website had a “shop” tab and I have to assume she was linking clothing, shoes, accessories, and beauty products, among other items. The number I see floating around the internet regarding The Tig’s influence at its height was $80,000 a month, though I have no way of confirming that. But from what I’ve heard/seen from beauty and lifestyle YouTubers musings on this topic, that number feels legitimate. 

As for advertising, I know for a fact that brands were paying big money to be featured on lifestyle brands websites in the 2010s. Into the Gloss, the brainchild of Emily Weiss, was an extremely popular blog that’s influence was at its peak around the same time as The Tig. That blog was receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars a month from beauty brands to advertise on its site. Again, I have to assume that The Tig was receiving similar offers from brands. 

The Tig was shut down in April 2017, with Meghan thanking her readers and assuring them once more, “You, my sweet friend, you are enough.” It was later confirmed in the book Finding Freedom by Omid Scobie that Meghan shut The Tig down “to avoid it being ‘used to fuel false speculation about her personal life with the prince.’” 

The Tig seemed to be a true passion for Meghan, and it’s sad to me that she felt forced to shut it down. But it does make sense from a personal standpoint – I doubt she ever would have had the same time to devote to it after marrying into the Royal Family. Still, I dream of a different timeline where Meghan was allowed and even encouraged to keep the blog and we got a “Tig Talk” with Princess Kate. 

A special shoutout to Meghan Maven for having an archive on The Tig!  

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January 2018 – February 2021: Charity Work & Patronages

As everyone and their grandmother knows, Meghan and Prince Harry announced their engagement in November 2017 and were married on May 19, 2018. Following their engagement, Meghan began to become involved in The Royal Family’s charities. Following their marriage, Queen Elizabeth II named Meghan as a patronage to four UK charities. 

Below, I will include a list of the patronages Meghan was a part of and when she left them. This is also when I need to remind you that Prince Harry and Meghan stepped back from their roles of “working royals” in January 2020 and moved to Southern California. With these moves, two of Meghan’s patronages reverted back to the crown, while the other two were hers to continue being a part of. 

• London’s National Theater: Jan. 2019 – Feb. 2021 
• Association of Commonwealth Universities: Jan. 2019 – Feb. 2021
• The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust (young entrepreneurs): March 2019 – Feb. 2021
• Mayhew (animal welfare): Jan. 2019 – 2022 (left as a private patron) 
• Smart Works: Jan. 2019 – Current

On top of her patronages, Meghan and Prince Harry were involved in other charities as a couple during this time. 

• The Royal Foundation: Feb. 2018 – June 2019 (shared foundation with Prince Harry, Prince William, and Princess Catherine) 
• Sussex Royal: July 2019 – Aug. 2020 (dissolved upon M&H stepping back) 

As we can see, Meghan’s interests and passions aligned incredibly well with her patronages. On top of these charities, Meghan went out of her way to assist in other areas during her time as a working royal. 

Before their marriage, Meghan joined Prince Harry in supporting the charity Elephants Without Borders, which assisted with conservation efforts taking place in Botswana. In January 2018, Meghan began to spend time in the Hubb Community Kitchen, run by survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire in West London. In September 2018, survivors released Together: Our Community Cookbook, which featured a forward from Meghan. Proceeds from the cookbook were donated to the UK charity Migrateful, which “supports refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants by helping them organize cookery classes.” Additional proceeds were donated to the UK charity Himmah, which supported the “Salaam Shalom Kitchen, the only Muslim and Jewish community kitchen in the UK.” The charities received $10,000 and $13,000, respectively. 

As we would later learn, Meghan was struggling with her mental health during this time period and did contemplate taking her own life. This was clearly not a time for business and, thankfully for her, she did not need to think about money while being a working member of The Royal Family. But that would soon no longer be the case. 

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March 2020 – March 2024: Post-Royal Business Ventures & Media Appearances

Since stepping away from their “working royal” status, Prince Harry and Meghan have made both joint and solo business deals together. Their joint business dealings began as early as September 2019, when the couple was reportedly in talks to partner with Quibi (RIP) over a possible role in the service – thankfully, the couple decided against joining the doomed app. 

In March 2021, the couple sat down with Oprah Winfrey for a television special titled Oprah with Meghan and Harry. This special seemed to mark a turning point for the couple. A year after leaving The Royal Family as working royals, this interview marked the first occasion where the pair began to speak more openly about their struggles within the institution. Looking back four years later, it’s clear to me that the couple felt they needed to have one of these bombshell interviews (ala the prince’s own parents in the 90s) in order to move forward into the next steps of their new lives as philanthropists and future business owners. 

Nearly 50 million people worldwide watched the special. The couple were not producers on the special, but I do believe it’s worthy to note that the special was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award that same year. 

Streaming was clearly an ambition of the couple. In September 2020, they signed a private commercial deal with Netflix and a multi-year deal with Spotify. Today, the Netflix deal is still active, while the Spotify deal appeared to be DOA. Below, I’ll list the projects the couple has released with each service. 

Netflix: 

• Harry & Meghan (documentary miniseries) – 2022
• Live to Lead (documentary miniseries) – 2022
• Heart of Invictus (documentary miniseries) – 2023
• Polo (documentary miniseries) – 2024
• With Love, Meghan (lifestyle series) – 2025

With Love is the first series produced by the couple that is currently scheduled to run for more than one season. The series’ first eight episodes, originally scheduled to be released in January of this year before being delayed after the Southern California Wildfires, was released in March to a mixed reception. According to Netflix, the show reached 12.6 million hours watched in its first week. This sounded pretty good to me until I saw that Deadline reported that the couple’s first documentary miniseries Harry & Meghan reached nearly 100 million hours watched in its first week back in 2022. 

The good news for Meghan is that three days after its release, Netflix announced that a second season of eight episodes had already been filmed and will be released this fall. I watched the show and enjoyed it! A standout moment for me was when Meghan gave a gift-wrapping seminar in episode 7. The show, to me, is good, simple fun. It’s Meghan in older sister/mom mode, showing the audience how she makes everyday moments more special. Don’t tell the British media, but I definitely learned a trick or two from the show! It also definitely made me want some homemade jam. 

Spotify: 

• Archetypes – a 12-episode podcast hosted by Meghan in 2022. This show focused on the stereotypes about women conveyed through language. The podcast was canceled by Spotify in 2023. 
• That’s it!

It’s a bit shocking to me that Harry and Meghan seemed to decide that Meghan would be the face of the couple’s podcast projects. Again, I like Meghan, but many, many people can’t stand her. Podcasting is a fickle industry and it’s surprising to me that the couple would want to be involved with it in the first place. But it’s been a pillar of Archewell Productions business ventures since the beginning. They say on their website that Archewell Productions is “dedicated to illuminating thought-provoking and diverse narratives that underscore our common humanity and celebrate community – through scripted and non-scripted TV, film, documentaries, and podcasting.” 

The couple’s Spotify deal ended in 2023 with Archetypes being the sole series released. The couple took a break from podcasting until March 2025 when, once again, Meghan launched a second podcast titled Confessions of a Female Founder. This time, the podcast was released through Lemonada Media. Lemonada also appeared to acquire Archetypes from Spotify, taking the original podcast from a Spotify exclusive to a multi-platform release. 

I have listened to episodes of both Archetypes and Confessions. Both podcasts seem to follow a similar script. Meghan opens the episodes with a story from her adolescence, early career, or, more recently, her business journey that relates to the topic of the episode, she tells us why her guest is the perfect person to help her with this discussion/problem, and then interviews the guest. The intros are a bit theatrical at times, Meghan’s inner actress (or really, her inner theater kid) shining through, but both podcasts are very listenable. I don’t believe I’m the target audience for Confessions – Meghan and her guests talk a lot about being working mothers and juggling family with CEO life, and that’s just not something I deal with or am that interested in hearing about time after time. Archetypes is more my speed, especially as an avid media consumer. Both shows are pretty niche, and I wonder how their numbers have done/are now doing on Lemonada. Podcasting is clearly something that Meghan is determined to master, and I admire her for not backing down from the challenge. If there’s ever a season 2 of Archetypes, I will tune in! Now I’m left wondering if Prince Harry will ever host a show… 

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March 2024 – Present: As Ever, LLC & The Future of Meghan Sussex 

In March 2024, jars of jam appeared in the Instagram stories of SoCal’s most famous members specifically thanking Meghan for sending them. The label on the jars said American Riviera Orchard, which was soon revealed to be Meghan’s upcoming business. According to a report from Forbes in April 2024, “company registration documents revealed plans to create an online retail store selling tableware, cutlery, cookbooks, stationary, party decorations and other similar items.” Originally slated to be released that spring, the brand would soon be faced with trademark and operational challenges. Meghan was unable to secure the trademark for American Riviera Orchard, which she had been attempting to obtain since at least February of 2024. Allegedly, (and despite research, I couldn’t find a clear source for this claim) Meghan was also having issues securing a CEO for the brand before installing herself as CEO. 

The brand’s name was eventually changed to As Ever in 2025. The first As Ever products went on sale on April 2, including the famous raspberry spread, flower sprinkles, wildflower honey, three types of tea, and more, with all products selling out within an hour. Products from this launch, particularly the flower sprinkles, were featured throughout the first season of With Love, Meghan. Meghan later revealed in a message to As Ever subscribers that the brand would be releasing new products “seasonally.” 

And that brings us to today. What does the future hold for Meghan Sussex, the most famous Royal Girl Boss? 

It appears that Meghan is back in her influencer era. Shortly after With Love premiered, Meghan launched a ShopMy storefront. Storefronts like these allow celebrities/influencers to link their favorite clothing, beauty items, accessories, etc. for their audiences to shop. The platform itself and the storefront owner make a commission off of each purchase made through their link. I’ve attached a screenshot below from her most recent post on her ShopMy store. 

Honestly, I think this is genius. Whether they love or hate her, people love to search for what Meghan wears or uses. This is a super smart way to make a few dollars back from the online publications that have spent nearly a decade making money off of her wardrobe with their own links. It also brings us back full circle to how Meghan first began to make money off of her own influence by linking to items on The Tig. 

Whether or not With Love is renewed after season 2, I believe that Meghan has a strong future with As Ever. Consumable products like food and drinks are bound to create repeat customers. Once some products are available permanently, like the three teas in the original launch, I guarantee her team will create some sort of subscription program to ensure that buyers never run out of their favorite flavor. 

Additionally, you have to assume that many non-food items are in the future for the brand. A cookbook seems to be a no-brainer. Pots, pans, mugs, tea towels, aprons, coasters, the list of items she could stamp the As Ever logo on is endless. Some sort of collab between Meghan and one of her favorite brands (Crate & Barrel? Pottery Barn?) has to be in the works for this coming holiday season.

Whether or not any of my predictions come true, Meghan has made a few things clear over the last few months. First, her name is Meghan Sussex, not Meghan Markle. Second, she wants to sprinkle a little joy into everyday moments. Lastly, head to her ShopMy account to shop her favorites. 😉

In the battle of the 2025 Girl Boss, Meghan Sussex could very well turn up on top.

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Works Cited

Archewell Productions. Archewell Productions, https://archewellproductions.com. Accessed 28 April 2025.

Duke & Duchess of Sussex. “Meghan, Duchess of Sussex | The Office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.” Sussex.com, https://sussex.com/meghan-duchess-of-sussex/. Accessed 14 April 2025.

Lutkin, Aimée. “Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Full Relationship Timeline.” ELLE, 26 February 2025, https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a42177573/prince-harry-meghan-markle-relationship-timeline/. Accessed 14 April 2025.

Markle, Meghan. “Farewell, Darling.” The Tig: Farewell, Darling, April 2017, https://thetig.com/. Accessed 14 April 2025.

Meghan Maven. “The TIG Archive.” Meghan Maven, https://meghanmaven.com/thetig/. Accessed 14 April 2025.

Vanity Fair. “Wild About Harry! | Vanity Fair October 2017.” https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/2017/10/wild-about-harry, 2017, https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/2017/10/wild-about-harry. Accessed 14 April 2025.

White, Peter. “’With Love, Meghan’ Struggles In The Ratings On Netflix.” Deadline, 11 March 2025, https://deadline.com/2025/03/with-love-meghan-netflix-ratings-1236323422/. Accessed 28 April 2025.