Montecito’s ‘mean girls’ have given Meghan Markle a brutal new nickname after her lifestyle brand flopped. The California gossips have taken to calling the Duchess of Sussex “pumpkin spice” and “Walmart”.
The nickname accuses her of being a sell-out following “a series of cheap stunts”, according to Mail columnist Lisa Kennedy Montgomery due to the release of a Netflix show, a lifestyle brand, and a new podcast. The Mail reported one went so far as to say: “She had this incredible opportunity to be the first Black woman to marry into the Royal Family and make her mark as a chic and charming revolutionary. She’s so obsessed with bees? Why couldn’t she stay in the Family and make honey with King Charles’s bees, he loves that stuff!”
Former Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Tina Brown said that Meghan is trying to be “a sort of instant Beyoncé or instant Michelle Obama” but doesn’t want to put in the years to build the “strong structure” they have.
As Ever, renamed from the “word salad” American Riviera Orchard, launched in March and nine of the products, which included £6 raspberry spread, £11 edible flower sprinkles and wildflower £21 honey, sold out within minutes.
Jameson Stocks, who owns a string of restaurants, said that the price points were “extreme”, saying they are “geared towards the elite”, not everyday people.
The brand was launched the same day as the Duchess’ Netflix show, With Love, Meghan. In the show, she had guests including actress Mindy Kaling, chef Roy Choi and chef Alice Waters.
One reviewer said it was “a Montecito ego trip not worth taking,” while another slammed it as “a ghastly artefact of a particular cultural era that recently met its apocalypse,” With Love, Meghan was also called an “exercise in narcissism, filled with extravagant brunches, celebrity pals, and business plugs.”
And Confessions of a Female Founder, her new podcast, has been slammed as “scraping the bottom of the barrel” after reportedly trying to get pop culture heavyweights like Beyonce, Taylor Swift, and Hailey Bieber.
It has also been panned by critics. The Telegraph’s TV critic Chris Bennion claimed it was an “inane stream of mindless aphorisms” with “no confessions or secrets.”
The Times slammed it as “Meghan’s vapid lessons in self-love,” while The Guardian noted that it was “stomach-turning” and “sycophantic”.