After returning to Instagram for the first time in four years, Meghan Markle has used the social media platform to announce her latest business venture.
The Duchess of Sussex has launched a new lifestyle brand called American Riviera Orchard.
Last week, a new website and Instagram page went live for Meghan Markle’s new project.
The bio for the American Riviera Orchard Instagram page simply reads, “By Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. Established 2024,” and we haven’t been given many details about the brand as of yet.
The Instagram account uploaded a story of the Duchess of Sussex picking flowers and cooking in a kitchen, hinting at the type of the project this will be.
The name of the new brand, American Riviera Orchard, seems to be a reference to Meghan and her husband Prince Harry’s current place of residence: Santa Barbara in California.
According to Travel & Leisure, for more than 100 years Santa Barbara has been known as the American Riviera “because of its temperate climate and lush landscapes, as well as its robust food and wine culture.”
The logo for the brand also includes the word Montecito, which is the specific neighbourhood in which the Sussexes live.
A trademark application for the American Riviera Orchard brand reveals that the lifestyle business intends to sell tableware, drinkware, kitchen linens, edible treats such as jellies, jams, marmalade and spreads, and cookbooks.
Her range is already expanding, despite the business not having launched yet, as the Duchess of Sussex has continued to pursue trademarks for more products.
Trademark applications for cosmetic products, home home décor, stationery, linens, kitchen appliances, condiments, yoga equipment, gardening gear and pet accessories.
The brand appears to be similar to Meghan’s previous lifestyle blog, The Tig, which was used from 2014 to 2017.
On The Tig, Meghan shared insights into her favourite foods, travel discoveries and personal reflections.
“I’ve never been the type of person to do only one thing. I guess that’s how my website was born,” Meghan said in her 2022 documentary Harry & Meghan.
“There was fashion, there was tons of food, and travel, so it was all of the things that I loved. And The Tig wasn’t just a hobby. It became a really successful business.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are no strangers to starting new businesses as they have embarked on numerous ventures over the past few years.
Meghan has launched a podcast named Archetypes as well as invested in an oat milk coffee company, while Prince Harry released his memoir, Spare, in 2023.
The couple have also made a multi-year deal with Netflix, releasing a docuseries about themselves in 2022 and they will reportedly be producing a number of projects for the streaming giant too.
Additionally, the pair have continually worked on their nonprofit organisation, the Archewell Foundation, for many years.
The launch of the American Riviera Orchard Instagram page marks the first time either of the Sussexes have used social media since 2020 when the pair made their last update to their @SussexRoyal Instagram page after stepping back as working members of the royal family.
Meghan shut down all of her personal social media profiles and The Tig blog after getting engaged to Prince Harry in 2018.
