We’re told Meghan’s syrupy new lifestyle brand will “reflect everything she loves: family cooking, entertaining and home decor.”
But the strangely named American Riviera Orchard is best described as a ticking time bomb for the Royal Family.
Despite the down-home talk of fancy cutlery, recipes and jams, this has the appearance of shameless cash-in: an initiative by the former actress to ensure a financial safety net for when the Sussexes’ Netflix and Spotify profits evaporate. .
Meghan has announced her own lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, which will operate from her cream Tuscan-style palace in Montecito, California.
Makeup, lavender sachets, yoga mats and even dog shampoo are also on the menu at Montecito, as MailOnline revealed last night.
Harry and Meghan once claimed they were seeking nothing but privacy in North America. They promised the late queen that they would not commercialize her royal titles.
But since they landed in California in 2021, they have been flaunting their status and exploiting it.
When American Riviera Orchard launched on Instagram earlier this month, the company was tagged “by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.”
Of course.
The direction of travel has been obvious since Meghan and Harry married at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, in 2018.
Back then, there was enormous public support for the glamorous, down-to-earth American who promised to add a bit of modernity and spontaneity to the British monarchy.
However, there was nothing spontaneous on the guest list.
Few were fooled when they saw the guests arrive at the chapel.
Most were Hollywood agents, directors and celebrities, some of whom Meghan barely knew. Everyone was invited to witness her victory in joining the firm.
This was the first step in establishing Meghan Inc., a dream she is reluctant to give up and which the Royal Family should rightly fear.
“Everything Meghan does is carefully curated and forensically planned,” says Gina Nelthorpe-Cowne, her former business agent.
There have been obstacles along the way. To his apparent alarm, the British media reserved the right to criticize his behavior from time to time, although not at first.
To her astonishment, Meghan discovered that Harry, then fourth in line to the throne, lived in a two-bedroom cottage on the grounds of Kensington Palace, did not command an army of servants or have an unlimited fortune. He didn’t even own a private jet.
For a time, it seemed like these were hardships she was willing to tolerate.
But the rules on the exploitation of royal titles proved to be inconveniently restrictive.
It was only a matter of time before Meghan resurrected The Tig, her lucrative website that, until her engagement to Harry in 2017, sold lifestyle options (and promoted luxury fashion brands) to a million followers.
Now it looks like her lifestyle brand is back, this time adorned with majestic bells.
It is true that Meghan is not the first royal to follow this path.
There was ridicule when Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, used her title to make money from ventures including weight loss tips, fancy teas and a £50 juicer.
But Fergie did not defame the British monarchy through interviews and books. Nor was she trying to establish a rival royal family across the water.
I’m glad the Queen didn’t live to see her grandson, Spare,’s explosive memoirs about the Royal Family.
Or watching Harry allow his wife to exploit his family and friends.
With Kate, whom Meghan has maligned, suffering serious health problems, the timing of the American Riviera Orchard announcement seemed particularly in poor taste even before the Princess of Wales’ shocking cancer diagnosis.
Makeup, lavender sachets, dog shampoo and yoga mats are also on the menu at Montecito
Now Meghan’s proposed lifestyle brand is adorned with royal bells
It also seems like the project has been rushed. Meghan has not yet appointed a chief executive to run the business, as the Mail revealed yesterday.
In your rush to get it up and running, did you forget the basic fundamentals of a successful operation: talented staff?
The King and Prince William now face a serious problem and a woman whose personal drive and hungry ambition seem to know no bounds.
“She wanted to rule the world,” Nelthorpe-Cowne says of their time working together, words King Charles should remember.
Until now he has been too accommodating.
It is unfortunate that the king has agreed to grant royal titles to the Sussex children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
Now, following the launch of Meghan’s lifestyle brand, she probably regrets it.
The key lies in a recent decision to drastically reduce Harry and Meghan’s formal biographies on Buckingham Palace’s website. The next step should be to remove your titles.
For Charles, that will be difficult. But, as the King and Kate recover from their illnesses and rebuild the institution, it is a necessary step: protecting the sanctity of Britain’s most treasured brand, the Royal Family itself.
Tom Bower is the author of Revenge: Meghan, Harry, and the Windsor War. Posted by Simon and Schuster