Meghan Markle has opened up about the struggles behind new 'As Ever' lifestyle brand

The Duchess of Sussex has been front and centre this season, releasing her brand new Netflix series, With Love, Meghan.

Markle's viral lifestyle show sees the mother of two share hosting and interiors tips from her home in Montecito, California - from cake baking and flower arranging tutorials to bee keeping and hosting hacks.

And tying in with its release, she has finally launched her highly-anticipated lifestyle brand, As Ever.

The luxe lifestyle business offers aspirational items from flower sprinkles and hibiscus teas, to crepe mix and wildflower honey with honeycomb. And within an hour of its launch this week, Markle herself announced that all of the products had sold out.

"Our shelves may be empty, but my heart is full," Markle posted to Instagram. "We sold out in less than one hour and I can’t thank you enough…for celebrating, purchasing, sharing, and believing. It’s just the start @aseverofficial. Here we go!"

Yes, 'As Ever' is proving to be a major success. But according to Markle, it was a long journey, with the Duchess of Sussex having to rebrand from her original name, American Riviera Orchard, at the last minute.

This is something that Markle has opened up about recently, explaining how she came to understand that "twists and turns" and particularly name changes were commonplace when launching a business. And these lessons she credits to her close friend and founder of dating app Bumble, Whitney Wolfe.

"Even though we’re close friends, I had no idea that Bumble was originally called Merci," Markle explained. "These things that can feel very big as an entrepreneur when you’re building your own thing are completely normal."

"Last year, I thought American Riviera, it’s such a great name," Markle has previously explained of the name change. "It’s my neighbourhood, it’s the nickname for Santa Barbara, but it limited me to things that were manufactured and grown in this area.”

The Duchess of Sussex has teased that a second drop of 'As Ever' products is imminent. And until then, all eight episodes of With Love, Meghan season one are available to watch on Netflix.

We will continue to update this story.