As Ever Sold Out

The verdict is in on Meghan Markle’s long awaited and rebranded As Ever raspberry spread.

“It might be time for her to ‘concentrate’ on a new formula,” is the withering opinion by Jane Herz in London’s Daily Mail, my former employer, who managed to get her hands on a $9 7.6-ounce jar ($14 for “keepsake packaging”).

It is not described as a “jam” which has to be equal parts sugar and fruit, according to the FDA. It is described as a “spread” with the website stating it “is crafted with a fluid texture so it can be drizzled, spread, poured and enjoyed for so much more than your morning toast.”

Meghan’s culinary concoction consists of raspberries, organic pure cane sugar, organic lemon juice concentrate and fruit pectin, a natural stabilizer.

“Several reviewers praised the simple, natural ingredient list.

“Reminiscent of a raspberry dessert sauce rather than jam or spread,” opines Herz. “We grimaced from the sweetness.

It dribbled everywhere. It dripped under the pressure!”

The Daily Mail, one of the U.K.’s largest tabloids, gave the new product two stars out of five.

I also planned a taste test to see who would be “crowned” top jam maker at Pierre Lafond. Having received a jar of Harrods’ (the top London department store), and Highgrove, King Charles’s Cotswolds estate, both selling for less than $10 a jar, as well as one of Smucker’s, which sells for $4.99 for 18 oz.

But, sadly, were unable to get our hands on the Riven Rock resident’s long-awaited product. The entire As Ever product line sold out in under an hour after it went live.

Charity Commission

Prince Harry’s favorite charity is being officially investigated under “concerns raised” about alleged racism and bullying, a U.K. government department has announced.

Sentebale, a nonprofit set up by the Duke of Sussex in 2006, is being investigated by London’s Charity Commission over alarming allegations by Sentebale chairman Dr. Sophie Chandauka, which King Charles’ youngest son has claimed are “blatant lies.”

It comes after the charity, which was set up to help AIDS patients in Africa – particularly the land-locked kingdom of Lesotho – became embroiled in a vicious dispute between Harry and other leading trustees and Chandauka, who became leader of the organization in 2023.

Stay tuned…

Montecito’s New Friend

Friends actress Jennifer Aniston is putting the finishing touches to her new $15 million Mediterranean-style Montecito estate.

She spent $14.8 million for Oprah Winfrey’s old four bedroom, 3.5 bath pad in April, 2022.

Since 2012 Aniston’s primary home has been her $21 million home in Los Angeles, but she is now quitting Hollywood and joining the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Cameron Diaz, and rocker Adam Levine in moving to our rarefied enclave.

Venetian Nuptials

Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos, 61, will tie the knot with longtime galpal Lauren Sanchez at a lavish wedding in Venice, Italy, in June.

As usual, members of our rarefied enclave – including Oprah Winfrey, Katy Perry and Lord of the Rings fiancé Orlando Bloom – are among the invited throng on Bezos’s $500 million, 417-foot yacht Kofu, which will be moored in the Venetian Lagoon.

Clearly making a splash…

Space Plans

Santa Barbara warbler Katy Perry and Lauren Sanchez, fiancée of Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos, have sworn to “full glam” when their all-female flight NS-31 launches into space next week.

In an interview with Elle magazine, the four women set to make history on the 11-minute trip to space, sat down together for the first time.

The tony twosome join CBS anchor Gayle King and former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, bio astronautics research scientist Amanda Nguyen, and filmmaker Kerianne Flynn on board the spacecraft.

“We are looking to put the ‘ass’ in astronaut,” joked Katy, fiancé of British actor Orlando Bloom.

The six trail blazers will launch from a site in West Texas on April 14.

Remembering Jesse Kornbluth

On a personal note, I remember former New York Magazine colleague Jesse Kornbluth, the author of countless Vanity Fair cover stories with celebrities like Kevin Costner, Tom Cruise and Faye Dunaway, who has died at his Manhattan home aged 79.

He wrote seven books of nonfiction and two novels while covering the decades of cultural excess, celebrity, and author profiles in the ‘70s and ‘80s.

Jesse enlivened the pages of a newsstand’s worth of magazines during the last golden age.

A vaunted journalist and great character.

Sightings

Kevin Costner shopping at Erewhon in Calabasas… Carol Burnett dining at Lucky’s… Josh Brolin at Pierre Lafond.

Pip! Pip!