Meghan launches American Riviera Orchard brand amid royal family turmoil

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, launched an Instagram account on Thursday announcing a new venture, American Riviera Orchard, which appears to be a kitchen and lifestyle brand. Little is known about the brand other than a 15-second video featuring grainy footage of Meghan arranging roses and hydrangeas, standing in the distance in a black dress and cooking in what appears to be her kitchen in Southern California.

A representative for the Duchess confirmed her involvement with the project but declined to provide further details.

However, there is still evidence. a Brand application American Riviera Orchard, filed in early February, seeks trademark approval for a retail store that sells cookbooks, tableware, and an impressive catalog of spreads: “jellies and jams; marmalades; fruit preserves,” The list begins, in addition to “garlic-based spreads; Sesame-based spread, fruit and nut butter.

American Riviera Orchard's website displays its logo, a gold calligraphy logo, and an email subscription notifying you of upcoming products.

The announcement comes amid a week of wild speculation about Catherine, Princess of Wales, Meghan's sister-in-law, who apologized on Monday for publishing an edited photo of herself. The photo sparked a public relations scandal and sparked conspiracy theories about the princess's health since her abdominal surgery in January.

Meghan and her husband, Prince Harry, have not commented publicly on the fight, although Meghan participated in a panel on women's representation in entertainment at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, last week.

The couple stepped back from their royal duties in 2020 and moved to Montecito, California, an affluent area on the east end of Santa Barbara where Oprah, Ellen DeGeneres and Katy Perry also have homes. It is very likely that the name American Riviera Orchard is a reference to the area's reputation as the “American Riviera”.

American Riviera Orchard is the latest in a series of projects for Meghan and Harry, including an audio streaming partnership with Spotify that ended last year and a multi-year deal with Netflix. The docuseries Harry and Meghan, released by Netflix in 2022, offered carefully curated glimpses into their lives as a couple.

From 2014 to 2017, Meghan shared fashion, travel and culinary messages on her lifestyle blog The Tig, which she described as a “hub for discerning taste”. She posted cocktail recipes, interviews with stars like Serena Williams, and tips for traveling to the Amalfi Coast.

It remains to be seen how much American Riviera Orchard and The Tig have in common, but there is still an audience eager to consume its recommendations. Within a few hours of her first Instagram post of her new brand, her account had more than 200,000 followers.