Meghan Markle’s New As Ever Launch Inspired by the Montecito Mansion She Hasn’t Left Behind

Meghan Markle may be living in Britain again, but California is still very much part of the picture.

Just over a month after the Duchess of Sussex moved back to the UK with Prince Harry and their children, Meghan has unveiled a new product from her lifestyle brand, As Ever, drawing unmistakable inspiration from the family’s Montecito home and garden.

The limited edition As Ever Advent calendar, created in collaboration with Los Angeles chocolatier Compartés, launched on 1 October for $148, or £112. It contains 24 handcrafted chocolates and arrives in a keepsake box illustrated with details associated with the Sussexes’ California estate.

It is festive, highly personal and very carefully on brand.

It is also a reminder that the Sussexes’ return to Britain has not meant closing the door on California.

Meghan Takes As Ever Back to Montecito

The Meghan Markle As Ever Montecito connection is hardly subtle.

The inside of the Advent calendar describes its chocolates as “thoughtfully inspired by our Montecito garden”, while the box itself appears to recreate the Sussexes’ California home dressed for Christmas.

There are palm trees, Christmas decorations and chickens wandering around the illustrated property. The palms are a particularly personal detail: Meghan has previously spoken about the two trees that caught the couple’s attention when they first viewed the estate. Chickens have also long featured in glimpses of their home life.

Inside are 24 chocolates from Compartés, with flavours including strawberry, raspberry, blackberry and orange marmalade. One incorporates Meghan’s As Ever Flower Sprinkles, while the numbers were rendered in her own handwriting using edible gold lustre.

The result is less generic Christmas merchandise than a miniature, edible version of the world Meghan has spent several years building around her public identity.

Montecito, apparently, travels well.

“Christmas Planning in June”

Meghan gave followers a behind the scenes look at the project through her Instagram Stories on 1 October.

In footage recorded months earlier, she could be seen driving around in a golf cart with Compartés chief executive and chocolatier Jonathan Grahm. Her exact caption was:

“Christmas planning in June”

As Michael Bublé’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” played, Meghan smiled and told viewers, “Hang on,” before Grahm added: “Stay tuned.”

Other footage showed early colour sketches of the house and the Sussexes’ Labrador, Pula, carrying a plush toy shaped like a jar of As Ever fruit spread.

The timing is notable.

The footage was recorded in June, before Harry and Meghan relocated to Britain in late August. The product therefore should not be interpreted as something conceived in response to their move.

Instead, its October release shows how closely As Ever remains tied to the Californian aesthetic Meghan established before leaving the United States.

Montecito Is Still Home Too

Harry and Meghan’s move back to Britain has naturally prompted questions about what becomes of the life they built in California after stepping away as working royals in 2020.

For now, the answer appears to be: they are keeping it.

The Sussexes are retaining their Montecito property despite moving to the UK for an extended period. They are also keeping their property in Portugal, according to People.

Their California estate was purchased in 2020 for about $14.65 million and became the centre of the family’s post royal life in America.

That makes descriptions of the property as Meghan’s “former home” somewhat misleading. The Sussexes may no longer be based there full time, but they have not disposed of it.

And commercially, California remains important too.

As Ever describes itself as Meghan’s premium lifestyle brand, offering products intended to “elevate everyday moments”, with its current products available for purchase across all 50 US states.

The new Advent calendar strengthens those California connections further through its collaboration with Los Angeles based Compartés.

A Brand Built Around Meghan’s Version of Home

There is something particularly revealing about the latest As Ever new launch 2026, although perhaps not in the dramatic sense some royal watchers might prefer.

As Ever has always depended heavily on Meghan’s personal aesthetic.

Its appeal is not simply jam, wine, flower sprinkles or chocolates. The products are presented as fragments of a broader lifestyle: gardening, hosting, cooking, entertaining and finding beauty in domestic rituals.

That makes Montecito useful intellectual and visual territory for the brand even when its founder is physically spending more time thousands of miles away.

The mansion and garden have become more than a residence. They are part of As Ever’s visual language.

That does not necessarily tell us where Meghan would rather live, nor does an Advent calendar reveal some hidden plan to abandon Britain. Those conclusions would go considerably further than the evidence allows.

What it does show is that the Sussexes’ relationship with California remains active.

Britain May Be Home Again, but California Hasn’t Disappeared

A month into the Sussexes’ return, their lives increasingly look less like a clean relocation from one country to another and more like a family retaining meaningful ties on both sides of the Atlantic.

Harry and Meghan are now spending an extended period in Britain, and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, have enrolled in a British school. Yet the couple still own their Montecito home, while Meghan’s lifestyle business continues to draw heavily from the Californian identity she built there.

The new Advent calendar encapsulates that balance rather neatly.

Meghan may have returned to Britain, but As Ever has not packed away Montecito.

If anything, she has put it in a box, decorated it for Christmas and filled it with 24 chocolates.