The Moment
Meghan Markle is not just basting a turkey this year; she’s glazing it in branding.
In the latest edition of her As Ever newsletter, the Duchess of Sussex revealed that her new product, Sage Honey with Honeycomb, is headed straight for the Sussex Thanksgiving table. The honey is described as being inspired by sunny walks in her garden with Prince Harry and their kids, Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4, wandering through the sage while Harry checks on the bees and the dogs race around.
The newsletter leans into that California idyll: purple sage, warm air, happy children, a husband in the hives. From those “sun-drenched moments,” as the text puts it, came the idea to infuse that same sage into a honey she now suggests you drizzle over your turkey or vegetables.
The brand even offers a full recipe idea: blend the Sage Honey with cooking stock, Dijon mustard, spices, and lemon juice to make an As Ever Sage Honey Glaze for a savory Thanksgiving bird. Other suggested uses: whisk it into a vinaigrette, or stir a spoonful into your tea when your in-laws get a little too comfortable on the couch.
This all builds on what Meghan has said before about her U.S. Thanksgiving traditions with Harry and the kids: good food, games, music, and someone inevitably breaking out a guitar after everyone is full.
The Take
I’ll say it: we have officially entered the era of the branded holiday memory.
On one level, Meghan’s new honey is very sweet (literally and figuratively). A mom turns quiet garden walks with her children into a recipe, then into something she can share with fans who want a little slice of that California fantasy on their own tables. There’s nothing sinister about sage and bees.
On another level, it’s textbook 2020s celebrity culture: every tender family moment is either content, a product, or both. The image is: kids racing through lavender-colored sage, dogs tumbling after tennis balls, Harry doing his best beekeeper cosplay. The result is: add to cart.
Think of it like this: your family walks through the backyard, you come back with mosquito bites and a half-dead hydrangea. Meghan’s family strolls the garden, and a carefully positioned lifestyle brand emerges, complete with tasting notes and a turkey glaze suggestion.
Is that a crime? Of course not. But it does tell you exactly where Meghan sees herself now. She’s moved from “royal rebel” into the more comfortable lane of California lifestyle entrepreneur: part actress, part mom, part host-with-the-most, part pantry curator. Honey, herbs, recipes, emotional backstory-all very on trend.
And honestly, for a couple that’s had more than their share of drama, this feels almost refreshingly basic. If the options are: 1) palace intrigue or 2) arguing about whether the sage honey is worth the price, I know which family conversation I’d rather overhear at Thanksgiving.
The push-pull here is familiarity. Lots of readers will recognize themselves in the parts about wanting “magic” holiday memories and tradition-building recipes for the kids. The part they won’t recognize is turning that sentiment into a glossy product rollout tied to a newsletter drop. That’s where the fairy-tale garden meets the influencer economy.
In other words: Meghan’s not just glazing the turkey. She’s glazing the brand story-and she knows exactly what she’s doing.
Receipts
- Confirmed: In her official As Ever newsletter released in November 2025, Meghan introduces a product called Sage Honey with Honeycomb, described as aromatic, earthy and inspired by her family’s garden walks.
- Confirmed: The newsletter explicitly recommends using the Sage Honey for Thanksgiving-either drizzled over turkey and vegetables or blended with stock, Dijon mustard, spices, and lemon juice as an As Ever Sage Honey Glaze.
- Confirmed: The same newsletter describes garden strolls with Archie and Lilibet running ahead, Harry checking on bees, and their dogs playing, as the emotional backdrop for the product.
- Confirmed: In a U.S. magazine interview in November 2024, Meghan said the Sussex Thanksgiving typically includes a shared meal, games, music, and someone bringing a guitar, and that she wants her kids to have the “magic” of repeatable holiday traditions and recipes.
- Unverified / Interpretation: How much of the honey’s story is genuine family ritual versus smart marketing packaging-that’s a matter of opinion, not documented fact.
Backstory (For Casual Readers)
For anyone who hasn’t been tracking the Sussex saga: Meghan Markle, a former actress, married Prince Harry in 2018 and entered the British royal family with all the fanfare you remember. By early 2020, the couple publicly stepped back from royal duties and eventually settled in California with their two children, Archie and Lilibet.
Since then, their lives have shifted from palace protocol to production deals, philanthropy, and a growing lifestyle and media footprint. Their projects have included documentaries, podcasts, philanthropic work through their Archewell foundation, and now Meghan’s newer lifestyle venture, As Ever, which leans heavily into home, hosting, and personal storytelling.
Thanksgiving, which was never a royal staple, is now one of the family’s big anchor holidays. It fits the story they seem eager to tell: cozy, American, informal, but still aspirational-less Buckingham, more Montecito farmer’s market.
What’s Next
Expect this Sage Honey moment to be a template, not a one-off. If Meghan is building a proper lifestyle brand, holidays are prime real estate: Thanksgiving honey and glaze this year, maybe Christmas baking mixes or New Year’s brunch ideas next, all with a soft-focus family memory attached.
What will be worth watching is how far the public is willing to go with her. Fans who already love Meghan’s style and story will likely see the honey as an extension of a life they admire-one more item in the “Meghan made this feel special” catalog. Skeptics will roll their eyes and say it’s just another celebrity slapping emotional copy on pantry staples.
Somewhere in the middle are the rest of us, trying to figure out if we’re reacting to the product, the price tag, the marketing, or just our preexisting feelings about a woman who went from royal upheaval to recipe notes in under a decade.
Either way, the Sussex Thanksgiving is now part family tradition, part case study in modern fame. The turkey may be roasted, but the brand is still very much in a slow, steady simmer.
Sources: As Ever official newsletter introducing “Sage Honey with Honeycomb,” November 2025; U.S. magazine interview with Meghan Markle discussing Thanksgiving traditions, November 2024; public biographical information on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle up to 2024.
Your turn: Would you actually buy a celebrity-branded honey for your holiday table, or do you prefer your family recipes without a famous name attached?
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