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By Jack Royston
Chief Royal Correspondent
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Meghan Markle turned 45 on Tuesday with her As Ever lifestyle business eyeing international expansion and with her latest film days from release.
The Duchess of Sussex marked the occasion by posting black-and-white photos to Instagram of her in a black one-piece swimsuit, holding a bushel of balloons while jumping in a pool, accompanied by the message: "Thank you for the birthday love!"
When Meghan turned 40, she was among the most talked-about public figures in the world. It was five months after the Oprah Winfrey interview saw her level damaging allegations at the royal family, including that an unnamed royal had expressed "concerns" about how dark her unborn child's skin might be.
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She had a multi-year Netflix deal, a Spotify deal and every reason to be optimistic about the future. Since then, there have been some setbacks.
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Why It Matters
The Spotify partnership ended, Meghan and Harry's Netflix agreement was renewed on less favorable terms than their original deal, and there remains debate about the performance of As Ever.
Newsweek has previously been told by those close to her that the business is doing well and there are hopes it will double in size over the course of the year. However, Similarweb data suggests traffic to the brand's website has been declining steadily throughout 2026.
As she turns 45, Meghan continues to pursue international expansion for As Ever. And she is days away from the movie-theater release of Cookie Queens, a documentary she executive-produced.
Meghan Markle's Year Gone By
On her 44th birthday, Meghan was still in the middle of establishing As Ever. Her first product drops had all sold out in minutes, suggesting issues with her supply that needed fixing.
That August, she launched the fourth product release, and the first that did not immediately sell out. Since then, she has not had another instance in which the whole store was sold out all at once.
The second season of her cooking show, With Love, Meghan, also dropped on Netflix in August but did not make the streaming giant's top 1,000 in its first six months.
Meghan and Harry also re-signed with Netflix after the end of their initial five-year deal, on less favorable terms. However, rumors in the British press had suggested the partnership would be terminated altogether, so maintaining a relationship with the streaming giant was regarded by some commentators as a positive for the duchess.
In October, Meghan flew to France for Paris Fashion Week, where she attended the Balenciaga show. An Instagram video showing Meghan driving beside the River Seine, not far from the site of Princess Diana's fatal 1997 car crash, prompted debate online, with some, including the Daily Mail, suggesting the video was insensitive.
Others defended it and a Sussex source at the time told Newsweek: "The Daily Mail throwing out a line about insensitivity is a bit rich.
"They have chosen, at a complete stretch I might add, to draw the most tenuous, tenuous link between an Instagram post and the death of Harry's mother. That for me is the insensitive bit."
Also in October, Meghan attended the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit 2025 at Salamander Hotel, in Washington, D.C., on October 14, in her capacity as the founder of As Ever, giving her a stage to promote the company.
And in January 2026, she took her latest documentary project, the movie Cookie Queens, directed by Alysa Nahmias and executive produced by Meghan, alongside others, to the Sundance Film Festival.
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In March, Netflix ended its investment partnership with As Ever, leaving Meghan to run the business independently. Both sides described the split as an expected evolution, with representatives saying the brand had achieved enough growth to stand on its own.
The move intensified debate about the future of Meghan's business. Nick Ede, a U.K. brand and culture expert, told Newsweek at the time that having invested in the business, Netflix would normally want to recoup that money with profit and the early departure suggests the streamer "will have made a loss."
In April, Meghan and Harry undertook a widely publicized visit to Australia, generating significant coverage, with fans viewing it as evidence of the couple's continuing global profile and detractors dismissing it as a "faux royal tour."
Meghan traveled to Geneva, in Switzerland, in May where she delivered a speech focused on online child safety and the impact of social media on young people.
More recently, the family holidayed in Portugal before traveling to Britain, where Meghan, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet joined Harry for a meeting with King Charles III at Highgrove, his private estate in Gloucestershire. They also stayed in Scotland.
Meghan Markle's Year Ahead
Cookie Queens will be released in theaters on August 7, a positive moment for the team behind the film at a time when the documentary sector has faced significant challenges.
Few factual projects from Sundance were bought, with the International Documentary Association's article about the festival noting in its headline: "The documentary industry looks for upsides amid decimation at Sundance 2026."
At the point Roadside Attractions bought the distribution rights in March, Meghan said in a press release: “As a former Girl Scout myself, with my mom as my troop leader, I have a personal affinity for this film and am proud that Archewell Productions has partnered with this award-winning team to executive produce this incredibly captivating film.”
Netflix's withdrawal as an investor also gives Meghan greater freedom to pursue the international expansion she has long discussed for As Ever. Meghan first said she was looking to expand into international markets back in June 2025.
"Compliance is different globally when we get into that market, which we will," the duchess told the Aspire With Emma Grede podcast. "You're going global," Grede replied. Meghan said: "How can we not?"
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Yannick Demoustier and Gray R. Thomas
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