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Meghan Markle is expanding her portfolio. On Thursday, Prince Harry's wife announced the launch of her new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard.
The Duchess of Sussex applied for a trademark for American Riviera Orchard on February 2. According to the document, the brand will sell cookbooks, tableware, drinkware and serving tools in retail stores and online. The company also plans to sell food and beverage items, including jams, fruit preserves, vegetable-based spreads and more.
American Riviera Orchard was advertised on social media. Markle shared a teaser video on the brand's new Instagram account, which has garnered more than 115,000 followers. The country video, set to Nancy Wilson's song “I Wish You Love,” showed Markle strolling through the garden picking flowers and cooking in the kitchen.
The Instagram account’s bio says: “Written by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Founded in 2024,” it offers followers the company’s website, which features a waitlist signup.
The American Riviera Orchard logo includes a reference to Montecito in Santa Barbara County, California, where Markle and Harry live with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. The couple moved to the city in 2020, after leaving royal life earlier that year.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry
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This isn't Markle's first venture into the lifestyle space. Between 2014 and 2017, Markle wrote a blog called “The Tig,” where she shared food and travel tips. The blog was shut down after her engagement to Prince Harry.
Markle is a co-founder of Archewell Inc., an organization she created with Prince Harry in 2020 that focuses on media production. The company initially worked with Netflix on the documentary series “Harry & Meghan” and “The Heart of Invictus.” Archewell also produced podcasts for Spotify until June 2023.
Since leaving their royal duties, Markle has also released a children's book called “The Bench” in 2021 and Prince Harry released his memoir “Spare” in 2023.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, speaks on stage during “Keynote: Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead on and Off the Screen” during SXSW 2024 Conference and Festivals at the Austin Convention Center on March 8 in Austin.
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Markle recently attended the inaugural South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin on March 8, where she joined Brooke Shields and Katie Couric for the session “Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Are Coping On and Off Screen.” During the event, Markle discussed the negative impact social media can have on new mothers.
