Meghan Markle’s lavish new lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard has given the Duchess plenty to smile about, after a whopping 100,000 people signed up to purchase her wares following their initial rollout.
The 42 year old royal quietly announced the brand’s launch in March by debuting it on Instagram, and now, just four months later, the extent of her success is being celebrated, with the former Suits star reportedly “very pleased” with it’s “strong start.”
Discussing the initial success, a source close to the Duchess told Us Weekly: “The rollout for American Riviera Orchard is already off to a strong start. The website has over 100,000 who have signed up to hear about the first products launched. “Meghan is very pleased with the early interest it has gained.”
One of the standout products generating a buzz, is Meghan’s jam, which comes in both strawberry and raspberry flavours, and was sent to an array of her celebrity friends including her former co-star Abigail Spencer and husband Prince Harry’s polo pal, Ignacio “Nacho” Figueras.
Each jar features the brand’s name: American Riviera Orchard, written in a delicate cursive script, beneath a gilded logo – but it’s the Duchess’ own personal flair that adds an extra dose of charm for her fans, as she has handwritten the flavour on the label using her calligraphy skills.
While the jam appears to have been a roaring success so far, it’s also not the only product the brand intends to bring to the market, with the entrepreneurial royal having filed trademark requests for the brand to sell cutlery, cookbooks and jarred foods, which the United States Patent and Trademark Office later confirmed it had accepted.
It’s this brand expansion that has also prompted excitement within the Sussex camp, with the source adding: “[She] is so excited to see how people enjoy her products and use them in their everyday lives.”
The latest foray into the world of lifestyle wares is far from the only project Meghan has sunk her teeth into since she and husband Prince Harry stepped down from their duties as senior working royals in 2020 and relocated to Montecito, California with their two children.
Since leaving, the couple have been involved in a number of high profile projects, including a multi-year deal with Netflix working on unscripted content, something that Bela Bajaria, the streaming platform’s chief content officer teased earlier this year.
Speaking at the New on Netflix event back in January, Bela said: “They have a couple of unscripted things they’re working on with Brandon [Reigg, Netflix’s VP of Unscripted and Documentary]”
“And they actually have, like, a bunch of development. All very early development, with a movie, a TV show and a couple of unscripted shows. But yeah, the movie’s great.”
The new programmes will follow on from the success of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s success with their six-part docuseries titled Harry & Meghan, which hit the streaming platform back in December 2022.
The tell all documentary showed an intimate look inside the couple’s life since leaving the UK and addressed some of the real reasons behind their decision to step down as working royals.
In addition, the couple is currently producing an adaptation of Carley Fortune’s romance novel Meet Me at the Lake, a docuseries about Harry’s favourite sport polo and a cooking show featuring the Duchess herself.
Meghan is also the brains behind her very own podcast, “Archetypes,” which aired its first season on Spotify. A second season is currently in production and will be released via Lemonada Media.
