EXCLUSIVE: Megxit 2.0! How Meghan Wants to Quit Life With Harry — And Become a Fashion Designer Like Victoria Beckham
Meghan Markle is desperate to cut ties with husband Prince Harry.
June 12 2025, Published 7:00 a.m. ET
Meghan Markle's As Ever brand team, in coordination with business partner Netflix – which debuted her With Love, Meghan lifestyle and entertaining program in March – spent a year preparing and forecasting demand for her food products, and it is the type of business move RadarOnline.com can reveal is driving the duchess to become convinced she canmake it on her own with husband Prince Harry's cash.
Everything – from her signature raspberry preserves and dried flower sprinkles to her honey, teas and crepe and shortbread cookie mixes – sold out in just 45 minutes.
The outlet declared it a "runaway success."
Big Dreams
Markle's raspberry preserves have been a sales hit.
Markle is now said to want to "take a step back" from the brand so she can gather data from the launch, and figure out exactly what As Ever could be.
But a source told RadarOnline.com there are concerns the 43-year-old is struggling under pressure, sparking worries about her decisions.
On the May 6 episode of the just-wrapped debut season of her Confessions of a Female Founder podcast, the Duchess of Sussex admitted she'd been facing "self-doubt," recounting how she recently asked herself, "Is this gonna work? Like, is this actually gonna work?"
Our source said: "Meghan has a lot going on, to be sure, but it's frustrating for her staffers and business advisors alike. She's not very good at making snap decisions. She likes to mull things over and that leaves people hanging.
"But she still thinks she can make it on her own – and is now dreaming of launching a fashion range, just like Victoria Beckham.
Making Mistakes
Advisors claimed Markle's hesitation is stalling the As Ever brand.
Markle's owned up to makin errors as she gets her footing, including with the disastrous March 2024 decision to announce her brand's name – American Riviera Orchard – before she'd secured the trademark.
She famously had to change it just months before it launched after facing multiple legal hurdles amid protests from other companies with similar monikers.
"I was figuring it out in real time," she confessed in February, thanking fans for giving her "the grace to make mistakes and figure it out."
Six years after she was first branded "Duchess Difficult," said the source, Markle is trying to tune out criticism.
They added: "But people around her say she's still hurt by it, that it doesn't reflect her work and communication style."
An issue, added the source, is that "Meghan has a lot of ideas, and she may welcome other people's opinions, but then she doesn't always follow through."
Trademark Battle
The Duchess of Sussex dropped American Riviera Orchard after trademark issues.
"The category of fashion is something I will explore at a later date," Meghan has teased, adding: "Because I do think that’s an interesting space for me."
In March, the former royal made headlines when she imitated social media influencers by launching a ShopMy page where followers can purchase items, with Markle earning a small affiliate fee, from a curated collection of pieces she recommends.
"Emerging designers love Meghan," said our source, adding: "Because when she wears one of their pieces, it's an instant sellout."
Markle was accused of inviting A-listers 'she most wanted to recruit' to her 2018 wedding.
She also has a huge amount of critics.
"She is a style icon," said our source, adding: "So it’s no wonder she wants to venture into fashion and start a collection of her own. Though the truth is, Meghan is only as good as her collaborators.”
With the right people working with her, “she could pull it off,” said the insider, “but how she will juggle it with everything else going on in her life is anyone's guess. She couldn’t even keep her jam and honey in stock."
Despite the non-stop backlash against Markle, she is determined to make it big in business.
More than five years after Meghan and husband Prince Harry, 40, decamped to California, they’re still chasing success – and need to work to support their luxe life at their $14.65million estate in ritzy Montecito.
While Markle admitted on the finale of her eight-episode Female Founder podcast she was "taught to not even talk about money," she now says she struggles with the "guilt mentality surrounding having a lot" of it.
The podcast, which debuted in April, has since garnered nearly one million downloads.
But the reality is, she needs the cash.
"There’s no doubt Markle is under pressure to earn and establish her family's financial stability as they continue building a life apart from the royals," confirmed our source about the mom to Archie, 6, and 4-year-old Lilibet.
Content Talks
Content negotiations have sparked 'tense conversations' about how much of the couple's life they're willing to share.
The couple's lucrative Spotify deal ended prematurely in 2023 after producing just a single season of Markle’s first podcast, Archetypes.
And though recent reports indicate Netflix will renew its production deal with the Sussexes they first inked five years ago – the first season of With Love, Meghan ranked in the streamer's global top 10 series list and has already been greenlit for a second season – it's expected to be a smaller payday.
Right now, claimed our source, Prince Harry, who said he remains devoted to "a life of service," has "no other means of income other than speaking engagements and his work as a consultant."
Already having money doesn't always make fears about it go away, Markle revealed on the podcast.
"There's a scarcity mindset that it's easy to attach to, of like, 'I'll never have enough,'" she said.
At the same time, she's trying to balance her career with motherhood.
Even though she said on the May 20 episode of her podcast it's "so important that my kids see me as a working mom," Markle struggles with it.
She's made peace with featuring them on her Instagram page, for example, by drawing a line at showing their faces.
Markle skipped meetings to cuddle Archie after he lost a tooth.
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"Every post she shares is instant news and that's good for business," said our source, adding: "Meghan is very careful about their privacy."
And in May, she bragged about putting work aside to care for the kids.
When Archie woke her up at 2am to tell her he’d lost his first tooth, she proudly noted: "I had a lot of business meetings the next morning, but I still chose to cuddle with him the rest of the night."
Still, Markle, who left some money and a little dinosaur under his pillow, kept her eye on her business, reasoning: "Those mom moments energize me to be a better founder, a better employer, a better boss."
She's also admitted the kids have a nanny she's called "amazing."
Royal Critics
Royal insiders said Kate Middleton and King Charles mock Meghan's brand.
Of course, some observers watching from afar will never be impressed.
According to our insider, her in-laws have scoffed at Markle's efforts to reinvent herself – as for all her talk about female empowerment when she joined the family, a royal insider told RadarOnline.com she’s now, in their view, a woman who's hosting a cooking show.
"They see it as a joke," said our royal insider – adding: "They couldn’t be happier when they hear critics say she's no more than an influencer. She failed to inspire them when she was a senior working royal. And she's not impressing them now."
