Meghan Markle faces new Montecito test after setback

In a surprising setback close to home in Montecito, a known store has reduced its As Ever display, a sign that Meghan Markle’s brand is still fighting for shelf space.

Despite her global profile, the Duchess reportedly has more work to do to win over neighbours and prove her products deserve top billing in town.

The former royal's once-prominent display dramatically scaled back in a fresh blow to her lifestyle brand.

Godmother's Bookstore is known for the Duchess' As Ever fruit spreads, honeys, teas, candles and more across multiple large shelves, but now, just a handful of products are relegated to a tiny table amid backlash.

Some users believe the stock may have sold out. It could be the reason the entire product range is not being displayed.

It comes amid alleged claims and reports Meghan has a significant inventory of fruit spreads, honey and other perishables set to expire next year, which could potentially cost her around $5 million in product losses.

A person, who stopped by the Bookstore on their way to a wine tasting north of Santa Barbara, claimed, "I went into the room upstairs, and there was no sight of the stuff on the 3 tiers of big wall shelf display (upstairs, mind you, not in the main floor gallery even)." 

"As I was leaving, I turned and saw a sorry, sad display of a pitiful offering of only 3 items lit by a stark lamp," they wrote, noting there was "no signage or banner" to alert customers to Meghan's products.

When the same person popped into the shop several months earlier, the brand had a massive spread across a large part of teh store.

The Redditor noted that the display, about the size of a schoolroom desk, included eight boxes of her chocolates in collaboration with Compartes, eight $64 signature candles, one box of As Ever's honey set, and a large glass "fish bowl" containing jars of her edible dried-flower sprinkles.

There were no jars of Markle's signature fruit spreads, which had been a part of her 2025 holiday display, nor were there other perishables beyond the one set of honey, despite As Ever still marketing the individual Lavender Honey, called a "warm gift for summer," and the Sage Honey with Honeycomb.