Sixty-four dollars. That's what Meghan Markle is charging for a candle named after her son's birthday. Not a candle inspired by a season, a memory, or even a vague poetic concept. A candle with a number that corresponds to Archie's birthdate, paired with a description that nudges buyers toward his red hair, his royal title, and the fact that he's a prince. It's a product. It's personal. And to a growing number of critics, it's a line that shouldn't have been crossed.
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The Mother's Day collection from As Ever, Meghan's rebranded lifestyle venture, dropped this week with the kind of fanfare her team clearly hoped would dominate the conversation. It didn't go quite as planned. Within hours, royal watchers, commentators, and former palace insiders were picking the launch apart. The consensus, delivered with varying degrees of diplomatic restraint, was roughly the same: this feels desperate. It feels like a brand that's run out of ideas and reached for the one thing it absolutely shouldn't touch: the children.
And then came the timing. One hour. That's all the gap there was between the Princess of Wales announcing her landmark solo trip to Italy and Meghan's team firing out a "last call" promotional email for the very same candles. Whether it was deliberate scheduling or a catastrophic piece of diary management, the effect was the same. The story that should have been about a lifestyle brand's new collection became, instead, a story about whether Meghan tried to hijack Kate's moment. Spoiler: it's not a good look either way.
Inside Details
Candle No. 506 (Archie) and No. 604 (Lilibet) explicitly reference the children's royal titles in their product descriptions.
The "last call" promo email landed just one hour after Kate's Italy trip announcement on May 6.
Royal expert Phil Dampier accuses Meghan of "merching" and exploiting her children's royal status to sell luxury goods.
The As Ever rebrand itself was forced after a trademark dispute over the "American Riviera" name with a local Santa Barbara company.
Critics say the brand is "struggling for authentic content" after the 2024 jam launch failed to become a permanent product line.
The candles: what they are and why they've caused a storm
Let's look at exactly what's on sale. The As Ever Mother's Day collection includes two signature candles, each priced at $64 and each named with a number tied directly to the Sussex children's birthdates.
Candle No. 506
Prince Archie
Described as a "warm scent with notes of ginger and cashmere." The brand calls it a "subtle wink" to his red hair. His royal title features in the description.
$64
Candle No. 604
Princess Lilibet
Named for Lilibet's birthdate. Like Archie's candle, her royal title is woven into the product copy. Marketed as part of a "Mother's Day" gifting range.
$64
That's the product. Here's the problem. Archie and Lilibet are still in the line of succession. They still hold their royal titles. And royal commentators are now pointing out that using those titles, those identities, and those birthdates as the hook to sell scented wax sits in deeply uncomfortable territory with the "half-in, half-out" rules that the late Queen established when the Sussexes stepped back in 2020.
"This is merching, plain and simple. She's exploiting the children's royal status to shift product. The late Queen was very clear that you can't be half-in and half-out. Using Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet as a selling point is exactly the kind of thing the Palace drew a line under."
Phil Dampier, royal expert and commentator
One hour: the Kate timing that turned a launch into a disaster
Timing is everything in public relations. And on May 6, Meghan's team got it spectacularly wrong. At some point in the afternoon, the Princess of Wales released news of her upcoming solo trip to Italy, a landmark moment in her own royal comeback story and the kind of announcement that commands genuine public interest.
Sixty minutes later, the As Ever "last call" promotional email landed in inboxes across America. Buy the candles. Limited stock. Don't miss out.
Now, it's entirely possible this was a coincidence. Email campaigns are often scheduled days or weeks in advance, and no one on Meghan's team could have known exactly when Kate's announcement would drop. But in the court of public opinion, timing is rarely judged on intent. It's judged on optics. And the optics here were, to put it charitably, not great. Whispers from those watching the Sussex communications operation closely suggest this isn't the first time their scheduling has created this kind of friction. It's becoming a pattern that's hard to ignore.
The rebrand that wasn't really a choice: how As Ever came to exist
To understand where we are now, it helps to go back to the name on the tin. As Ever wasn't the plan. American Riviera Orchard was the plan, right up until the trademark lawyers got involved.
The rebrand timeline
Early 2024: American Riviera Orchard launches with fanfare. Jam jars sent to celebrity friends. A lifestyle brand is born.
Mid 2024: Trademark applications hit trouble. A local Santa Barbara business already holds the "American Riviera" trademark for candles, of all things.
Early 2025: The rebrand is announced. American Riviera Orchard quietly retires. As Ever takes its place. The jam never makes it to shelves as a permanent line.
May 2026: As Ever's Mother's Day collection drops. The candles arrive. The controversy follows almost immediately.
It's worth sitting with the irony for a moment. The original American Riviera Orchard lost its trademark battle partly over candles. And here is As Ever, the brand that replaced it, now launching a candle range as its headline Mother's Day product. You really couldn't write it.
"Struggling for authentic content": what the brand's critics actually mean
Behind the specific controversy over these candles is a broader concern that's been building among those who've watched the As Ever brand take shape. The question being asked, increasingly openly, is: what is this brand actually about?
The jam launch of 2024 was charming, photogenic, and generated a wave of coverage. It also never turned into a real product line. The strawberry jam that was photographed, gifted, and written about extensively never made it to a consistent retail shelf. Critics saw it as a PR exercise dressed up as a business. When that didn't convert into something sustainable, the pivot came. A new name. A new collection. And now, for a Mother's Day push, a reach into territory that feels less like creative inspiration and more like running out of other options.
"There's a whiff of desperation here. When you're selling your children's birthdays, you've run out of authentic content. A luxury lifestyle brand should sell aspiration. This sells something else entirely."
Royal commentator, speaking to the Express
The bigger picture
None of this exists in a vacuum. The Sussex brand is operating in a very different environment than it was in 2020 or even 2022. The media deals have quieted. The household has reportedly shrunk from 16 staff to just five. Harry's own public profile is increasingly tethered to Invictus and not much else. And now the brand that was supposed to give Meghan her own independent identity is generating headlines not for its products, but for the controversies that come with them.
The candles might sell. They might sell very well, actually. There's a market for Sussex-adjacent products among a loyal fanbase that isn't going anywhere. But in the broader game of building a brand that commands long-term respect, launching a Mother's Day collection that gets picked apart by palace commentators within hours of dropping isn't the narrative you want. It's not a disaster. It is, however, another own goal. And at this point, the Sussex brand is starting to rack them up.
Is naming a $64 candle after your child's royal title a clever piece of branding, or did Meghan just hand her critics exactly what they were waiting for?