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Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, launched an Instagram account on Thursday that announced a new company, American Riviera Orchard, which appears to be a cooking and lifestyle brand. Little is known about the brand beyond a 15-second video that features grainy footage of Meghan arranging roses and hydrangeas, posing from afar in a black dress, and cooking in what appears to be her kitchen in Southern California.
A representative for the duchess confirmed her association with the project but declined to give further details.
Still, there are clues: A trademark application for American Riviera Orchard that launched in early February seeks trademark approval for a retail store, cookbooks, tableware and an impressive catalog of spreads: “Jellies, jams; jams; fruit preserves,” the list begins, as well as “garlic-based spreads; sesame-based spreads” and fruit and nut butters.
An American Riviera Orchard website displays its logo, a calligraphic gold shield, and an email signup to receive notifications about upcoming products.
The announcement comes amid a week of speculation about Meghan’s sister-in-law Catherine, Princess of Wales, who apologized on Monday for posting an edited image of herself. The image has sparked a public relations scandal and fueled conspiracy theories about the princess’s well-being since her abdominal surgery in January.
Meghan and her husband, Prince Harry, have not commented publicly on the feud, although Meghan participated in a panel on the representation of women in entertainment at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, last week.
The couple stepped away from royal duties in 2020 and moved to Montecito, California, a wealthy enclave on the east end of Santa Barbara where Oprah, Ellen DeGeneres and Katy Perry also own homes. The name American Riviera Orchard is most likely a nod to the area’s reputation as the “American Riviera.”
American Riviera Orchard is the latest in a series of ventures for Meghan and Harry, including a podcasting partnership with Spotify that ended last year and a multi-year deal with Netflix. The documentary series “Harry & Meghan,” released by Netflix in 2022, offered carefully curated glimpses into their life as a couple.
From 2014 to 2017, Meghan shared fashion, travel and cooking dispatches on her lifestyle blog The Tig, which she described as “a hub for the most discerning palate.” She’s posted cocktail recipes, interviews with stars like Serena Williams, and travel tips to the Amalfi Coast.
It remains to be seen how much American Riviera Orchard will have in common with The Tig, but there still seems to be an audience eager to consume its recommendations. Within hours of her new brand’s first post on Instagram, her account has over 200,000 followers.