You are scrolling through holiday gift guides, looking for something that feels personal yet polished – a wicker basket filled with jams, teas, and scented candles, perhaps. It sounds lovely, maybe even a little royal. Now imagine discovering that the Duchess of Sussex just launched exactly that through her lifestyle brand, and that an almost identical concept has been sitting in a very famous palace gift shop for years. Coincidence? The internet has thoughts.
A wicker basket that raised eyebrows
Meghan Markle recently unveiled the Christmas collection for As Ever, her lifestyle brand, and several English-language tabloids – including Page Six – were quick to notice striking similarities between her new products and those sold by the official Buckingham Palace shop. The parallels are hard to ignore once you line the two offerings up side by side.
At the center of the conversation is what Meghan calls The Hostess Basket, an elegant woven wicker basket filled with her brand’s signature treats. Inside, you will find a jam gift set, peppermint tea, lemon and ginger tea, scented candles, and her now-famous flower sprinkles – edible flower confetti designed to be scattered over pastries or even salads for a burst of color. Meghan has described the basket as the ideal gift for a family gathering during the holidays. Its price tag sits at $211.
For years, the official Buckingham Palace shop has offered its own version for the festive season: the Buckingham Palace Christmas Hamper, a wicker basket containing a selection of teas, ginger cakes, and jams. That hamper is priced at roughly $190, making the two products nearly identical in cost. So is the Duchess of Sussex quietly competing with the Palace on the holiday-gift front, reimagining a very British concept with a warmer, Californian aesthetic?
Royal navy versus California neutral
The design details tell an interesting story about branding choices. The Buckingham Palace hamper is lined with navy blue fabric – the iconic royal blue – reinforcing its institutional heritage. Meghan’s basket, by contrast, leans into a natural, unadorned look with a simple leather strap for a chic, understated finish. Warmer tones, neutral palettes, and an emphasis on handcrafted textures position the As Ever version firmly in the California-lifestyle lane.
The former Suits actress is also releasing a Holiday Advent Calendar created in collaboration with Compartés, the celebrated Los Angeles-based chocolatier. This limited-edition calendar features chocolates adorned with the duchess’s signature flowers, intense dark-chocolate truffles, and jams in strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, and orange. According to the As Ever website, each piece carries a countdown number handwritten by Meghan and painted with edible gold leaf. The calendar retails for $148.
Buckingham Palace has its own advent calendar too, filled with 24 milk chocolates. It is a far simpler affair, and one that Prince Harry’s wife clearly did not need as a reference point for her considerably more elaborate version. It is also worth noting that all As Ever products are currently sold exclusively in the United States, which means the two brands are not even fighting for the same customer on the same turf.
An Instagram debut with a personal touch
Meghan has already begun promoting the new Christmas collection on her Instagram account, sharing a reel that traces her entrepreneurial journey. In the caption, she wrote that behind every successful woman is herself – but also a supportive community, a cheerleading squad, and an incredible team. She went on to thank the entire As Ever team for bringing the collection to life.
The video itself cycles through childhood photos of the duchess before revealing her best kitchen assistant: her daughter, Lilibet. The personal storytelling is deliberate – it positions As Ever not as a corporate venture but as an extension of Meghan’s own home life, her traditions, and her family rituals. Whether you find that charming or calculated likely depends on where you already stand on the Sussex debate.
What is undeniable is that the collection leans heavily into experiential gifting – curated baskets, hand-numbered chocolates, artisanal jams – rather than mass-produced merchandise. Every product in the lineup carries a story, and that narrative is inseparable from Meghan herself.
What this really tells us
Strip away the tabloid headlines and you are left with a straightforward observation: two entities that share a complicated family history are now selling remarkably similar holiday products at remarkably similar price points. One wraps itself in royal blue tradition; the other opts for sun-bleached leather and edible gold leaf.
The overlap may well be coincidental – wicker hampers stuffed with jams and teas are hardly a novel concept in the gift market. But the near-identical pricing and the seasonal timing make the comparison irresistible. For shoppers in the U.S., the real takeaway is simply this: if you have roughly $200 to spend on a curated holiday basket, you now have a Montecito option that did not exist last year. Make of that what you will.