Experts Brand Meghan Markle's New Lifestyle Brand a Royal Rip-Off: 'There's No Authenticity'
Royal experts Kinsey Schofield and Rupert Bell have accused Meghan Markle of echoing the royal family's interests for her lifestyle brand.
No matter what Meghan Markle says or does, she continues to attract constant criticism. Recently, she announced plans to move independently with her lifestyle brand, As Ever, severing her partnership with Netflix. However, royal experts Kinsey Schofield and Rupert Bell argue that, regardless of Markle's vision, her brand will always remain a rip-off of royal pursuits. Schofield pointed to King Charles and Kate Middleton's passion for gardening, accusing the Duchess of echoing their interests to maintain a sense of royal connection.
Speaking on her YouTube channel, Kinsey Schofield Unfiltered, Schofield believed that Markle needed to be authentic with her brand. She said, "We've seen Katherine, not so much William, but we have seen Katherine and William both. It was so sweet in the last few months, there were videos, and some people spliced them back to back, where they don't want to put on the gloves when they're planting a tree or when they're planting flowers on engagements." Questioning Markle's identity without her brand, she sneered, "It just feels like she's [Markle] hijacking all of these passions of the British royal family just so she can keep that proximity."
Chiming in, Bell also mentioned the King's passion for gardening, who he felt genuinely took the effort to 'tend to his hedges,' unlike the Duchess. With respect to Markle, he stressed that despite her attempts to come across as a gardening lover, the only thing he's witnessed is her chickens running around her home. He continued, "There's no authenticity. You can have it. We want to create this lifestyle, but even what we've seen this week, you know, it feels slightly weird...Little glimpses of Lily as they arranged these flowers, trying to make it, 'Oh, aren't we having fun?' And again, it just looked contrived."
To make matters worse, Bell also criticized Markle for constantly using her children to promote her brand, despite urging people to respect their privacy. He argued, "This is where I think people do get frustrated, that you know there is, you can take one thing, but you do the polar opposite..." He was likely referring to Markle's recent collaboration with luxury floral brand High Camp Gardenias, for which she enlisted Princess Lilibet's help for the hamper photoshoot. The 4-year-old could be seen hugging and helping her mother with flower arrangements, while her brother called out to Markle from the background.
As for Markle and her children's passion for gardening, she regularly involves Archie and Lilibet to assist her with her hobby. Her Netflix show, With Love, Meghan, also featured Archie and Lilibet's gardening tool sets and how they regularly helped her out. She once said on the show, "Our kids have real sets, they take their gardening very seriously... I think it's nice to give kids seeds that they can plant. Things that they can watch grow easily and pick from, like sugar snap peas and basil."
