Meghan Markle has at last set a date to launch her lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard as details surrounding her alleged struggle to secure a CEO are clarified, according to an inside source. The Duchess of Sussex, 42, teased her lifestyle brand in March through a new Instagram account and sent 50 jars of strawberry jam hand painted one through 50 to her influencer friends. Despite sending out the prototype jams to her pals, Meghan is yet to actually sell anything to the public.
But, speaking to People magazine on Thursday, the source said the Duchess has been working behind the scenes in preparation to launch her Goop-like brand later this year. They also squashed reports Meghan has faced delays in launching her brand after she struggled to hire a CEO to manage its operations. Reports in June said the American “had a lot of trouble finding a CEO to run it for her”.
The insider said those accounts were simply untrue. The wife of Prince Harry has filed hundreds of trademark patents for American Riviera Orchard, leading to speculation she plans to sell homewares, makeup, fragrance and dog accessories. A source told People her new venture “will reflect everything that she loves — family, cooking, entertaining and home décor”.
They said Meghan is “excited about her latest, personal venture” and its “something she’s been wanting to do for a while”. “She is excited to share her style and things that she loves”. The Duchess is widely tipped to be planning her own range of rosé wines as her first product release.
A collection of American Riviera Orchard-branded drinkware is also expected to accompany her vino. According to an insider close to the Duchess, Meghan is feeling pressure to “hit the ground running” with branded wines after her decision to launch soft launch strawberry jams was panned. The ex-working royal copped a heap of flack for the jars being “pretentiousness” and “hilarious” after she numbered them, a technique typically used for limited edition print art.
"She really needs to hit the ground running with whatever she launches next,” the royal insider told In Touch Weekly. "Right now, the word is it’ll be a signature rosé wine, which has a lot of people shaking their heads and warning her against it. "The level of competition and pressure in the wine game is ferocious.
“She’s going to be stepping on quite a lot of toes. "It also takes huge dedication and capital to make a successful go in the wine business, as well as a lot of time and patience — which is not really something she has the luxury of right now." It’s understood Meghan is balancing gearing for the launch of American Riviera Orchard with curating and executive producing her Nigella Lawson-style cooking show slated for later release on Netflix.
The series which will “celebrate the joys of cooking and gardening, entertaining and friendship” is expected to provide a platform from which the Duchess will promote her brand from. The series forms part of her husband Prince Harry’s a Drive to Survive-like series on Elite polo. The controversial couple inked a $100 million content partnership deal inked with Netlfix after “stepping down” as senior working royals and moving to California in 2020.
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