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A celebrity chef has accused "Diva Duchess" Meghan Markle of trading in her tenuous connection to the royal family to get fans to purchase items from her pricey As Ever brand, RadarOnline.com can reveal. Jameson Stocks, who has his own royal ties as an ambassador for King Charles III's King's Trust charity and has whipped up meals for the monarch, claimed Markle, 41, is "using the royals as a marketing tool" to push her products, including expensive jams, honey, teas, and wine."Royal family or not, I don't think any family would appreciate someone coming in and making money off the back of the family name," Stocks said in a recent interview. Markle and her husband, Prince Harry, dramatically quit as senior working royals in 2020 and fled to California to build an independent fortune. The Suits alum has come under fire for continuing to use her Duchess of Sussex title flagrantly in her projects in the years since, despite having no contact with her regal in-laws. "Admiration comes with class and the way you hold up as a person," Stocks sneered about Markle, and had a critical view of how late monarch Queen Elizabeth II would feel about Harry's wife using her status to push her lifestyle brand. "I think the Queen would feel that she is exploiting the 'everyday' people and using the royals as a marketing tool to sell jam," he scoffed.Pricey ProductsThe chef, who has his own line of sauces, thinks Markle's As Ever brand is a cynical money-making scheme. "Let's be honest, she'll turn anything into a luxury wellness product if she can make a huge mark on it. From overpriced tea to honey — next, she'll be selling Californian air in a jar," Stocks huffed. Markle just launched her first As Ever holiday collection, which features $62 honey, $63 candles, and a $42 fruit spread set. Stocks claimed that the Netflix star's "target market" is consumers in "Napa Valley or California" who are willing to pay those prices. "But if it comes down to buying baby food, paying for heating, and being able to afford to actually go to work, the vast majority would pass on a £30 'everyday' bottle of wine, I am sure — even if it is Meghan Markle branded," the cookbook author jeered.Markle's 'Ethos'"The difference between my brand and her brand is I've tried to build it up so it's accessible and affordable to the majority," Stocks noted about his products. "She's built up a brand for the minority who can actually afford it; her ethos is completely different from mine."'Staged and Fake'This isn't the first time Stocks has been critical of Markle. In August, he slammed Season 2 of her With Love, Meghan lifestyle series as "staged and fake." "I tried to keep an open mind, hoping it might be an improvement on the first series. But just two minutes in, I was already done with this bulls---," he said in an interview at the time. "She’s looking for credibility with the chefs and guests, just because you know a good cook doesn’t mean you are a good cook, I find it all really embarrassing," Stocks added. After Markle and Harry were downgraded from an exclusive Netflix deal to a first-look arrangement, a third season of the series seemingly isn't happening. At the time, the streamer announced a With Love, Meghan holiday special, but no other projects from the couple beyond that.
