Meghan Markle has stirred up a storm online after sharing a video promoting her tea brand – with critics claiming the setting resembled a grimy “toilet floor”.
The 44-year-old Duchess of Sussex reposted the clip to her official As Ever Instagram stories on Thursday as part of a Valentine’s Day push for her lifestyle brand.
In the 18-second video, piping hot water is poured into a pink, love heart-shaped mug placed beside an unopened tin of As Ever tea and a used tea bag resting on what appeared to be a tiled bathroom floor.Â
As the camera zooms in on the steaming mug – which contains another tea bag – viewers noticed what they claimed were stained grout lines in the surrounding tiles.
The detail did not go unnoticed online, with social media users quick to label the scene “unsanitary”.
“Why not make a cup of ‘As Ever’ tea right on the toilet floor?” one user posted on X.
“That is some dirty tile. Ewww,” said another.
A third wrote: “Did she have to travel to the local McDonald’s to be able use their bathroom floor for this video? I don’t even care to know what stained the tile grout.”
Others questioned whether the clip had been carefully staged, noting the tea tin appeared unopened.
“So apart from it looking like a toilet floor there’s a bag in the cup, another on the ‘floor’ but the tea caddy looks new/unopened,” they said.
“So this must be a real fan of the tea as obviously bought more than one tin of the stuff unless they work at Netflix and got freebie.”
However, not everyone was convinced there was anything wrong with the footage.
“I don’t know what people are criticising her about this time. I see nothing wrong with this video! The tea looks good. The mug is cute. What’s the deal people?” one Instagram user commented.
A second added: “I don’t get what the issue is… so confusing… while she isn’t my favourite… pouring hot water onto a mug for tea… not that horrible.”
Another supporter suggested the controversy may have been deliberate: “Oh come on. She wanted her post to go viral! And you just proved it! Good strategy!”
Meghan’s tea-bacle comes as reports emerge that several As Ever products have quietly disappeared from the brand’s website, including its shortbread cookie and crepe mixes.
American journalist and author Paula Froelich first flagged the missing items on her Substack on Friday.
“Turns out Americans aren’t that into flat pancake mix or bland cookies. No matter how many sprinkles are on them,” she wrote.Â
An insider also told Froelich: “If a product doesn’t work, you don’t sell it anymore.”
While shortbread and crepe mixes are no longer listed online, As Ever’s tea bags, fruit spreads and flower sprinkles remain available.
The Duchess has also unveiled new Valentine’s Day bundle sets, offering 15 per cent off curated collections.
“We’ve brought together a few of our most loved essentials into three thoughtfully curated sets -designed for gifting, gathering, and keeping the pantry beautifully stocked,” Meghan told her followers in an email.
The discounted bundles start at USD$132 (about AUD$185) and rise to USD$295 (roughly AUD$415).