It is a known, and lamented, fact that the rivalry between the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Sussex has led to a series of incidents of one-up(wo)manship. It is surely no coincidence that in the midst of the Harry and Meghan brouhaha on Netflix, the princess was photographed looking suitably radiant and selfless, helping out with good causes and generally being a credit to the royals, rather than a thorn in their side. And now that she has become the most discussed woman in the world by dint of her disappearance from the spotlight, a certain Montecito resident might be forgiven for feeling that her elegant nose has been put out of joint.
It is, perhaps, to settle an old score that Meghan has announced yesterday that she will be launching yet another lifestyle venture, this time rejoicing in the confused name of “American Riviera Orchard.” It gives the impression that the duchess was unable to decide whether to call it American Riviera, American Orchard or Riviera Orchard, and so has plumped for all three, leaving her public to wonder what, exactly, an American riviera orchard even is.
Apparently it is an allusion to Santa Barbara being known as the “American riviera” but this may have passed all but her most devoted fans by. What it will be selling is also currently vague; there is talk of “jellies, jams and marmalades,” and perhaps, for the very luckiest, “nut butters.” More specific details about the homeware range that Meghan will now be hawking to the paying public are yet to be released.
This has been a long time coming, perhaps ever since the closure of her unlamented lifestyle blog the Tig in 2017. As recently as 2022, she was announcing in the Harry and Meghan show that “It wasn’t just a hobby, it became a really successful business.” In any case, there will undoubtedly be plenty of money flowing into the duchess’s coffers if American Riviera Orchard is the financial success that she, and those around her, expect it to be. Given her husband’s mixed fortunes in the expensive court cases that he is currently fighting, it is not too much of a stretch to believe that the Sussexes need cash, fast. What better way to bring it in than with this particular method?
This latest endeavor was announced with a short video showing Meghan posing in what appears to be her home, casually dressed in an expensive ballgown, as Nancy Wilson’s “I Give You Love” plays in the background. (Sample lyrics: “My breaking heart and I agree/That you and I can never be.”) It has been given out by the duchess’s no doubt weary and overstretched — if under-stimulated — press team that this project is “genuine to who she is.” If it meets with success, they say, she will take on the regal likes of Martha Stewart and Ina Garten and become a “lifestyle queen” herself. There are even vague murmurings that her next Netflix show will be a “lifestyle/food” program, presumably on the grounds that all her other previously announced shows have flopped. If you can hear a scratching sound, that is the bottom of the barrel being scraped.
Meghan has been unusually quiet over the past year or so, allowing her husband and his family to claim the limelight. It is too early to describe American Riviera Orchard as the full, all-guns-blazing comeback that she has been promising (or threatening) for some time. But it certainly represents a determined attempt to return to the spotlight and to mark her territory in a suitably ambitious way. Her fans will rejoice at the project, but the rest of us might wish that, unlike her royal rival, she would have continued to maintain a low profile and slowly, gradually, disappear from public view.
This article was originally published on The Spectator’s UK website.
