Meghan Markle’s new business, American Riviera Orchard, might be breaking a strict rule with the Royal Family.
The Duchess of Sussex has just launched her Tig 2.0 brand on Instagram and it already has over 140,000 followers. Some people have however criticised the decision to launch the business on the same night as Prince Harry and Prince William’s appearance at the Diana Legacy Award ceremony in London.
However, some people believe the new business venture could have bigger issues for Meghan to tackle.
Russell Myers, the associate editor of The Mirror, suggested that Meghan’s business could be breaking a commercial agreement with Harry’s family.
He posted on X, which used to be Twitter: “If you sign up for info on Meghan Markle‘s new business venture, you’ll be notified about ‘products’. Clear breach of the agreement by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to not profit off their royal titles, is it not? Watch this space.”
The Duchess of Sussex’s new business is believed to be a new version of her old lifestyle blog that she closed down in 2017 when she was getting ready to marry Prince Harry.
In a promotional video, Meghan arranges white roses, bakes in her kitchen and looks after her dog with her Montecito mansion in the background, reports the Mirror.
American Riviera Orchard, which already has 30,000 Instagram followers, shared the video on its Stories. While its grid makes up a caligraphy logo of the new brand.
The Instagram bio simply states: “by Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex”. It says the company started in 2024 and there’s a link to its website, americanriviera.com.
The website gives visitors a chance to join its waiting list, although little other information is revealed. When you sign up, you get a message saying: “Yes, I would love you to be the first to know about products, availability, and updates from American Riviera Orchard.”
American Riviera Orchard’s name appears to be a reference to Santa Barbara, the town in California where Meghan lives with her husband Prince Harry, and their two children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
According to a source close to Meghan, who spoke with Page Six, the Duchess of Sussex has been quietly developing a brand which is said to be “close to her heart”. Sharing details about the project, they said: “She’s been working on this for over a year and it’s all the things that are close to her heart – all the things she’s passionate about.”
Another told the Daily Mail: “It’s a lifestyle and cooking brand called American Riviera Orchard. The brand is meant to coincide with the launch of a new cookery show for Netflix. Meghan will be making, and selling, products such as jams. And at some point there will be a book and blog etc.”
A trademark application seen by Page Six shows American Riviera Orchard aims to sell a variety of homely goods, including tasty treats like jellies and jams, tableware essentials like cutlery, table linens and drinkware, and even cookbooks.
While the brand’s logo features a design similar to Meghan’s calligraphy side hustle, doing work for weddings before meeting Harry.