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It couldn’t have been more headline-grabbing if it had tried: The Duchess of Sussex met with Nobel Prize-winning activist Malala Yousafzai last week – for tea at London’s Claridge’s.
It had been Meghan’s first public outing in London since moving back to the UK, and as the pair sat in deep conversation in the hotel’s Art Deco Foyer and reading cafe, another diner uploaded footage of their “private” meet-and-greet to social media.
Meghan was then photographed outside the Mayfair hotel hugging Malala as they parted ways – and looking saintly in white Ralph Lauren “clown” trousers and an oversized camel coat resembling an extra in a school nativity play.
But the question on everybody’s lips was: what the hell were the pair talking about?
Now, in the big reveal – made by Meghan herself on Instagram on Sunday – the wait for the answer is over. The reason Meghan and Malala met at Claridge’s was to announce that she would be donating 100 per cent of one day’s net profits from her As Ever jams and teas to the Malala Fund to mark the International Day of the Girl.
Meghan, who posted photographs of herself and Malala holding hands at a table laid with scones, jam and clotted cream, as well as other freshly baked, ornate pastries, made the announcement to her 4.9 million followers. In a joint statement on Sunday, Meghan wrote: “When we support the girls today, we empower the women of tomorrow. Access to education is the key to unlocking this.” She ended it: “Tea for Two has never felt so good. Shop at asever.com”.
Hours later, Meghan posted yet another photograph of herself to Instagram, this time wearing a now sold-out £76 cream sweatshirt – embroidered in brown with “It’s the little things” on the sleeve – as she modelled it in front of a tree.
Once again, it’s a charitable offering. She had partnered with Moms Offering More (MOM) on the “special edition” sweatshirts also for International Day of the Girl – with Meghan proudly calling it an “Archewell Philanthropies collaboration” and captioning the post: “Small acts of care can make a difference for parents, for caregivers, for moms.”
It’s clear that Meghan is in the midst of a major rebrand – with a philanthropic twist. All those quaint video clips she’s posted of her and Prince Harry’s children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, riding scooters or tractors at their new home in the Cotswolds, were mere teasers for what was to come. This wasn’t about them at all. It was all about her trying to make the world a better place.
Nothing wrong with that, you might say. But the truth is, Meghan is the ultimate millennial sales machine – and someone to underestimate at your peril.
Until now, her As Ever brand has only been available in the US market, but new reports claim that it will soon be on sale in the UK for the first time. Goodies from her lifestyle brand will include £11 tins of tea, £50 scented candles and £15 limited-edition bookmarks featuring phrases such as “Fell asleep here” in her distinctive calligraphy.
What better way to trail her famous wares than to double up with some good old-fashioned charitable fundraising for causes close to her heart? It fulfils her desire to gain credibility through serving good causes and to follow in the footsteps of her mother-in-law, Princess Diana, known for her deep empathy and global humanitarian work – while also becoming a lifestyle guru like Gwyneth Paltrow.
Anybody who thought Meghan was in the UK for a quiet life, perhaps doing nothing more than stretching in a regular Pilates class at Soho Farmhouse, is sorely misguided. And that goes for her husband, Harry, too. He has attended events linked to his charities, including the WellChild Awards and Invictus Games-related activities.
On Friday, he was photographed in the rugby stands with his cousin George McCorquodale and ahead of World Mental Health Day on Saturday, he released a subscription-based video conversation for MasterClass, in which he discussed the effect his mother’s death had on him and his experience of panic attacks. Harry, it seems, has no problem turning his own life into content for good causes too.
Anybody who thought Meghan had retired into the pilates studio of Soho Farmhouse for a humble group class are misguided
On Thursday, the pair will be seen at their first joint public engagement. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will visit Nottingham as private citizens, following confirmation from the King that the couple remain non-working members of the Royal Family. It’s significant because it is where the couple made their first joint appearance after announcing their engagement in 2017. Nearly a decade later, they will attract the same kind of crowds and glamour that they may hope will remind the royals how it is done.
However good their intentions, none of this will help heal the family rift, particularly the bitter fallout between brothers Harry and Prince William following Harry’s memoir, Spare, and the Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan.
Many believe Harry and Meghan have returned to the UK because their careers in entertainment have stalled – and that this foray into the UK for a complete rebrand is simply the next logical step.
But “doing a geographical” – when people move to a new city or country in the hope that changing their physical surroundings will make their problems disappear – rarely fixes a problematic situation when the issues run deep and are better tackled behind closed doors.
Reinventing herself as the Duchess of charity retail shows that Meghan is a force to be reckoned with. But until Harry and William make up, the truth is that no jam is going to put her or her husband on a clear path to success. A real difference on both sides could be made if their charitable works and messages of giving and forgiving began at home.
