Sussex fans accuse Serena Williams of ‘botched’ As Ever promotion and question whether her friendship with Meghan is on the rocks
They’ve been friends since 2014, but some royal fans have now questioned the Duchess of Sussex‘s closeness to Serena Williams after the tennis star’s ‘disastrous’ As Ever promotion on Instagram.
Serena, 44, was among the lucky few to receive a PR parcel filled with Meghan’s Mother’s Day edit over the weekend, which included candles inspired by her children and a £42 box of chocolates.
But instead of posting a glowing, high-effort product shot, the athlete shared a bizarre, ‘casual’ attempt at promotion, showing the chocolates displaced and partially crushed in the box, or as she put it, ‘botched’ – before adding that she ‘doesn’t like chocolate’.
The post was worlds away from the usual snaps shared by celebrities to promote their friends’ businesses – and when Meghan sent round her first PR packages, Kris Jenner and Chrissy Teigen shared a stunning setup to showcase the products.
Serena’s post appeared to involve a much lower effort, with fans branding the post ‘poorly done’. One wrote: ‘I’m not sure if Serena just tossed the box around before filming, but the end result felt like a very poorly done promotion.’
In the clip, Serena said as she showcased the crushed treats: ‘Anyway, the chocolate was beautiful. It was delicious. I don’t like chocolate, but I have been killing them. So good.’
Commenting on Meghan’s calligraphy, she said: ‘Her penmanship has always been amazing from the 100 years I seem to have known her.’
And when looking at the No.506 candle, which features scents of Ginger, Cashmere and Neroli, Serena said she ‘can’t pronounce’ the last ingredient – and it was much the same for the second candle, which included Santal – ‘another word I can’t pronounce’.
She concluded the post by saying, presumably directed at Meghan: ‘I love candles, thank you, I love you.’
One commenter wrote: ‘It actually makes you wonder – why would you make your friend’s product look bad while trying to promote it?’
A second wrote: ‘Serena has been Markled’. A third joked: ‘I don’t like chocolate… It was delicious… Uhhhhhh.’
A fourth wrote: ‘What a beautiful box…and inside a complete mess.’
Another disagreed, saying: ‘She did say she liked Meghan’s penmanship, and that she doesn’t like chocolate, but she had devoured those ones. I don’t think it was intentional.’
Meghan met Serena briefly in 2010, and again in 2014, explaining on her now defunct blog The Tig that the pair ‘hit it off immediately’.
The duchess invited the sportswoman to her wedding to Prince Harry and her star-studded baby shower when pregnant with Archie in New York City in February 2019.
Serena previously advised Meghan to ‘stop being so nice’ and also praised her ‘class and poise’ in the famous Oprah interview.
