Meghan Markle Torched by Critics After She Releases 'Weird' $148 Advent Calendar Just Weeks After Returning to the U.K.
Meghan Markle faced backlash over her pricey chocolates and questionable use of her Montecito mansion as the setting for her advent calendar.
Oct. 1 2026, Updated 3:50 p.m. ET
Meghan Markle came under fire from critics over her latest pricey As Ever offering, a whopping $148 advent calendar she began selling a full month before Halloween, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The calendar features a drawn exterior of the couple's Montecito, California, mansion — the sprawling home Markle shared with Prince Harry until the pair abruptly moved to the U.K. in late August.
Chocolates 'Inspired by' Meghan Markle's 'Montecito Garden'
Meghan Markle is promoting an advent calendar featuring 24 chocolate squares.
In the teaser photos Markle dropped to As Ever's Instagram page on Wednesday, September 30, the calendar's box opens up to read, "A magical celebration of the season. Twenty-four handcrafted chocolates to sweeten each day, thoughtfully inspired by our Montecito garden."
In a new post on Thursday, October 1, Markle clarified that the chocolates had been "created in collaboration with celebrated Los Angeles chocolatier Compartés."
"Each piece is finished with a countdown number in Meghan’s own handwriting," the caption boasted, touting the former actress' signature.
Meghan Markle Promoted Her Outfit With Advent Calendar
Meghan Markle wore a nealy $2,400 clothing ensemble to promote her new advent calendar.
Markle did more than simply hawk her pricey advent calendar in the carefully staged promo shot.
The ex-royal also used her OneOff page to show off her look, which featured a $695 R+Co cashmere sweater, $265 Argent silk charmeuse midi skirt and $1,393 Aquazzura ballet flats, bringing the seemingly simple ensemble to a cool $2,353.
Markle took her aspirational lifestyle pitch to another stratosphere by also merching a jaw-dropping $6,500 pair of Logan Hollowell diamond studs and a staggering $61,250 Jennifer Meyer diamond tennis necklace.
'Their Home Has Nothing to Do With Christmas'
Critics couldn't figure out why Meghan Markle's home would be associated with Christmas.
Social media critics were left scratching their heads over Markle's bizarre decision to slap her rarely seen Montecito mansion on the front of the calendar, while others were floored by the eye-watering price tag for just 24 chocolates.
"Their home has nothing to do with Christmas. And they don’t even live there anymore," one Redditor noted.
"I don’t want an Advent calendar of someone else’s house. It would work if she actually showed more of it or featured it on her show, but she didn’t so it’s quite odd," a second person questioned on X.
"$148 for 24 chocolates. That's $6.17 per chocolate – and the same chocolatier, Compartés, sells its own 24-piece Advent calendar for $120. So you're paying an extra $28 for the As Ever branding, packaging and… a picture of the Montecito house," a third user said on X
"That price is insane. Even for quality chocolate, which this is not. Total insanity," another person on Reddit griped.
"I wonder if she’d already set this particular project to the manufacturer before they made their insanely hasty departure to the UK. Because putting this out now just seems super weird," an additional critic speculated.
Meghan Markle Claimed She Was 'Christmas Planning in June'
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Meghan Markle claimed she was 'Christmas planning in June' in an odd Instagram Story video.
Markle similarly appeared to miss the mark with an Instagram Story promoting her latest As Ever offering.
She shared a throwback video clearly filmed in Southern California, showing her cruising in a golf cart alongside Compartés CEO Jonathan Grahm down a gravel path lined with vine-covered fences as the words "Christmas planning in June" flashed across the screen.
She followed it up with "85 sleeps 'til Christmas" alongside a shot of her and Harry's black Labrador clutching an As Ever raspberry jam plush toy in its mouth.
