Royal fans are calling out Meghan Markle for allegedly lying about her green thumb on Instagram.
The Duchess of Sussex, who rebranded her lifestyle brand from “American Riviera Orchard” to “As Ever” in February, posted a photo of her beagle sniffing a produce basket on the brand’s Instagram account.
“The unofficial quality inspector of this morning’s garden haul,” she captioned the photo, which featured her dog, Mia, burying her face in a woven basket of leeks, corn, broccoli, squash, red bell peppers, and carrots. Her caption suggested that the greens were hand-grown in her Southern California coastal garden.
ADVERTISEMENT
But fans were quick to point out something strange: Not only were the vegetables perfectly clean and free from any dirt, but the haul included produce that isn’t in season—in other words, the veggies looked like they were plucked straight from a Whole Foods aisle. Markle, 43, has her comments turned off on Instagram, but followers rushed to other social media platforms to express their doubts.
One Reddit user pointed out that corn was not in season in May—sweetcorn is usually harvested from June to September.
“She is also the only person outside of the US Cornbelt to harvest corn in MAY?” the poster asked.
“It’s way too early in the season for most of those vegetables to be grown in her garden and ready to pick,” agreed another.
Other users noted that not only was there no dirt, but the corn and onions looked as if they had been cleaned and trimmed.
“Huh. She’s so good at gardening she can grow all things from all seasons at once,” one said.
“The only place I see all that in season is the grocery store produce section,” another said.
“All things from all seasons all in perfect representation too, not a single misshapen vegetable or torn leaf,” added a third.
Others joked about her choice of attire—in the photo, Markle dons crisp white pants and fancy sandals along with a fresh pedicure in baby pink.
One fan even noticed that her shoes were Loro Piana flats, which go for around $1,000.
“And she harvests in those shoes?” one commenter asked. “Seriously, in those shoes? I’m covered in dirt just watering. And she wants us to believe she harvests in those clothes, those shoes, and those feet?”
Markle first turned heads for selling limited-edition raspberry products from her garden, which hit the market on April 2. The smash-hit $14 jams, $28 honey jars, $12 teas, and $15 dried flowers sold out within an hour.
But Markle revealed in a May 27 interview with Fast Company that she may not restock the items.
Instead, she will now take a step back to figure out what the company’s future holds, and new products will not be available until 2026.
“My heart is very deeply in my home,” Markle told the outlet. “Everything comes from being rooted in the love story of your home and garden, and then you can imagine different verticals coming out of that.”
She also didn’t rule out the possibility of a clothing line: “I do think that’s an interesting space for me,” she admitted.
The royal icon and her hubby, Prince Harry, live in a $14.7 million mansion with their two children, Archie and Lilibet.
