Meghan Markle Pretending to Be Normal Goes Viral

Meghan Markle's effort to act normal in the background of a video promo has gone viral, with some fans praising the duchess and critics condemning the stunt.

In social media posts, the Duchess of Sussex can be seen pretending to be an ordinary worker at Clevr Blends, packing boxes, sitting at a computer and missing a fist bump with a "colleague."

In 2020, Meghan invested in the company, which sells make-at-home oat milk instant lattes at $28 for a bag of 14, or $2 per coffee. That's somewhat more expensive than Fair Trade ground coffee, which sells for around $7 a bag at Walmart.

A video on the company's Instagram account shows Hannah Mendoza, who founded the company, taking the viewer on a guided tour while in each scene Meghan appears without fanfare in the background as though she was an employee.

"I want to give a huge shout-out to our amazing Clevr team here at HQ," she said. "Without them we are nothing. Our fulfillment crew, lovingly packing your lattes. They've been listening to Britney on loop since 2019. Our very smart, only slightly nerdy digital team making sure the website doesn't crash again like it did last year.

"Finally, the glue that literally holds us all together, our incredible, resilient fulfillment team that have helped make 2023 such a big success," she said.

Meghan previously landed a promotional post for Clevr Blends from Oprah Winfrey and earlier this year gave it a five-star review.

The promo stirred debate on X (formerly Twitter), where a video was liked almost 2,000 times and viewed more than 130,000 times.

One supporter wrote: "This is so cute and funny. Meghan living her best life while having fun and promoting her business interests."

Not everyone agreed, however. Another account wrote: "OH. MY. GOSH!! Meghan Markle truly has no shame, faking working at a company she's invested in during the last bit of holiday rush!

"No doubt hoping her 'presence' in this desperate video makes the company more money to pad her pocket. This is NOT royal behavior!" the poster wrote.

It comes shortly after Meghan and Prince Harry released their Christmas card on December 15, which included a photo of them at the Invictus Games closing ceremony, in September.

Meghan was wearing a strapless, teal cult Gaia dress, and the couple were smiling and clapping.

The text read: "On behalf of the Office of Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Archewell Productions and Archewell Foundation, we wish you a very happy holiday season, thanks for all the support in 2023."

Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter), at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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