Meghan Markle’s ‘trump card’ over King Charles isn’t what it seems – it’s embarrassing

Meghan Markle’s ‘Trump Card’ Over King Charles Questioned As New Website Figures Spark Debate

Meghan Markle’s lifestyle brand As Ever has once again found itself at the centre of a royal comparison, this time after new website traffic figures were used to suggest the Duchess of Sussex had gained an advantage over King Charles.

But one commentator has pushed back strongly against that interpretation, arguing that the numbers tell a very different story once the amount of promotion behind Meghan’s business is taken into account.

According to Similarweb data cited by Newsweek and referenced in the original report, As Ever recorded 126,655 website visits in July. That represented the brand’s lowest monthly traffic figure of 2026, while its six-month average stood at 176,677 visits.

King Charles’s Highgrove online shop, meanwhile, reportedly attracted around 48,326 visits during the same month and had a six-month average of 56,574.

On the surface, Meghan’s site was clearly attracting substantially more traffic.

That prompted suggestions that the Duchess had a potential “trump card” over the King when it came to online interest.

The original opinion piece, however, argues that simply comparing the two traffic totals misses an important part of the story.

Meghan Has Put Significant Effort Into Promoting As Ever

Unlike the Highgrove shop, As Ever has benefited from Meghan’s extensive public profile and a deliberate promotional strategy.

The Duchess has spent considerable time developing and drawing attention to the lifestyle brand.

The report notes that Meghan travelled to Australia with Prince Harry earlier this year, with speculation that the country could become an important market for As Ever. The brand is also believed to have registered trademarks across 12 product categories in Australia during 2025.

Her Netflix presence has also provided opportunities to put her products in front of audiences.

Products associated with Meghan’s business have been mentioned through her television work, giving As Ever another promotional channel beyond the company’s own website and social media presence.

That level of visibility matters when comparing the brand with Highgrove.

Meghan has also sent products to several well-known celebrities.

The report names Kris Jenner, Mindy Kaling, Chrissy Teigen and Tracy Robbins among those who have received items, describing the strategy as an apparent attempt to generate additional attention and encourage products to spread through celebrity and online circles.

With that level of promotion behind the business, the opinion writer argues that As Ever should arguably be producing a much larger lead over Highgrove.

That is where the comparison begins to look less flattering from the writer’s perspective.

King Charles Takes A Very Different Approach

Charles’s Highgrove shop operates in a very different way.

The King has not been appearing in entertainment programmes to promote its products, nor has he been using the type of celebrity-driven marketing strategy associated with Meghan’s brand.

The original commentary makes that contrast deliberately clear.

It jokingly asks readers to imagine Charles preparing food on a Netflix programme to advertise Highgrove products, noting that such a scenario would be extremely different from his normal duties.

Instead, the King has continued concentrating on his responsibilities as Britain’s head of state and head of the Commonwealth.

Despite that lack of aggressive promotion, Highgrove’s online shop still managed tens of thousands of visits in July.

The figures cited suggest its traffic was close to 40 per cent of Meghan’s total for the month.

That is the key point behind the criticism.

Meghan’s site is ahead, but the writer argues that the gap is surprisingly small when considering the very different amount of publicity surrounding each operation.

The two websites also serve different purposes.

As Ever is closely connected to Meghan’s growing lifestyle and commercial ambitions, with her personal profile forming an important part of the brand.

Highgrove’s shop, by contrast, is linked to the King’s Gloucestershire residence and exists without Charles personally operating as a lifestyle influencer or frequently promoting products to a large entertainment audience.

That makes a straightforward traffic comparison difficult.

July Figures Raise Questions About As Ever’s Momentum

Another detail highlighted in the report is the direction of Meghan’s traffic.

Although 126,655 monthly visitors remains considerably higher than Highgrove’s July figure, it was reportedly As Ever’s lowest monthly website traffic of 2026.

The six-month average of 176,677 visits also means July came in well below the brand’s recent average.

That decline is arguably more significant than the simple fact that As Ever still receives more visitors than the King’s shop.

A new commercial brand with a globally recognised founder would naturally be expected to generate substantial curiosity.

The question is whether that attention can be maintained once the initial launch excitement fades.

The source article takes a strongly critical view, arguing that describing Meghan’s traffic advantage as a victory over Charles exaggerates what the numbers actually show.

The writer’s argument is not that Highgrove is outperforming As Ever in raw website traffic.

It clearly is not.

Instead, the criticism centres on the amount of promotional effort behind each brand.

Meghan has the benefit of international celebrity, television exposure, social media activity and connections with high-profile personalities.

Charles’s Highgrove operation receives none of that in anything approaching the same way.

Against that backdrop, the opinion writer concludes that the latest figures should not be viewed as some decisive commercial advantage for Meghan.

The original piece ultimately describes claims of a “trump card” as embarrassing rather than impressive, arguing that Highgrove’s ability to attract nearly 50,000 visits without the same promotional machine makes the comparison much closer than Meghan’s supporters might want to suggest.