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Meghan Markle faces new jam in launching American Riviera Orchard

It's become a sticky situation!
Another day, another problem in Meghan trying to launch her lifestyle business.
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Whether you came to know Meghan Markle as an actress on Suits or when she wed into the British royal family, since stepping down from her official role, the Duchess of Sussex can’t help but make headlines.

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Whether she’s spending time at home with husband Prince Harry and their children, Prince Archie, 5, and 3-year-old Princess Lilibet or pursuing one of her many business ventures, Meghan continues to fascinate the public.

Here, WHO reveals everything you need to know to keep up with all the latest Meghan Markle news…

What happened to Meghan Markle’s lifestyle brand?

After much to-do online when the Duchess of Sussex’s celebrity friends shared her jam on social media in April, the launch of American Riviera Orchard has fallen pretty flat.

Six months later a single jar is still yet to be put up for sale.

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Meghan might not have much to smile about soon if she can’t secure her business name. ( Getty Images)

And now Meghan is facing a new setback in her plans to get her lifestyle venture up and running.

A protest has been lodged with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) by a firm owning the trademark Royal Riviera against Meghan securing the trademark for the planned name of her business venture.

The owner, Harry & David, is an American institution that was founded in 1934 and there protest has been deemed “relevant” because of the “likelihood of confusion”.

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In September, Meghan’s first attempt to trademark her lifestyle brand was refused on the grounds that businesses cannot trademark geographical locations, with American Riviera being a “common nickname” for Santa Barbara, California, where Prince Harry and Meghan live.

Royal commentator Angela Levin believes that the duchess might be losing interest in the project that saw her produce just a few jars of jam and dog biscuits.

“Why on earth would you try to sell something when you haven’t got trademarks passed, haven’t got things organised and nobody has heard anything?” she asked on GB News.

But there could be another explanation for Meghan’s sticky situation.

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Abigail Spencer with ARO jam
Meghan’s former Suits co-star Abigail Spencer promoted her jam on Instagram. (Credit: Abigail Spencer Instagram )

The Daily Mail’s Richard Eden recently revealed that Meghan rushed to announce her venture well before she was ready in order to stop him getting the scoop after he contacted her office for comment in March over a story he was working on.

“Meghan was so desperate for the news not to appear first in the Daily Mail that she immediately launched the Instagram page for her company, complete with a glitzy logo,” he wrote.

“Eight months later, the company has still not stated selling any goods and interest seems to be waning.A textbook example of how not to launch a business.”

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Have Meghan Markle and Prince Harry split?

During their 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan Markle compared herself and Prince Harry to salt and pepper shakers.

“You never move one without the other,” she said. “We always move together.”

However, those days now seem firmly in the past as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex forge ahead on very different paths.

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October 31 will mark 75 days since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had been seen together in public during their faux royal visit of Colombia.

Harry and meghan on a visit to Colombia
Harry and Meghan were last pictured together in August on their trip to Colombia. (Credit: Getty)

In the months since, the pair haven’t exactly been keep a low profile.

The duke and duchess have stepped up their charity work and been hanging out with their friends – just not together.

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During a jam-packed fortnight starting in late September, Harry, 40, looked to be in his element as he got back to his roots and carried out a series of charitable engagements by himself in New York City, London and Africa.

Left behind at home in Montecito, California, Meghan, 43, attended the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles 2024 Gala on October 5, and while she might have dressed boldly in a plunging red Carolina Herrera gown, the duchess didn’t look to be feeling that way.

meghan Markle walks the red carpet in a plunging gown for the 2024 LA children's hospital gala
While Meghan dressed boldly for the hospital gala, she clung tightly to pal Kelly Zajfen. (Credit: Getty)

“Meghan looks terrified,” leading body language and communication expert Dr Louise Mahler tells WHO. “Her elbows are tightly jammed to her body, one leg is in front of the other making her unbalanced and she is fidgeting with her fingers at times in a sign of either nerves or being uncomfortable with the occasion – she does not seem happy to be at the event without Harry.”

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Stepping out alongside friend Kelly McKee Zajfen, Meghan held on tightly to her while walking the red carpet.

“When pictured with her friend, you can see her grasping at her friend’s hand in a sign that she is seeking support, and when she is pictured alone, she comes across like a frightened wolf,” Mahler explains.

“This is very unusual for Meghan, who, as a natural performer, normally puts on a show and delivers a strong public front of being a confident and assertive figure. Stepping out here without Harry, she does not create her usual dashing figure of assertiveness at all. Instead, she comes across as nervous, uncomfortable and looking terrified.”

Meghan markle waves shyly on the red carpet at a hospital gala
Attending the gala without Harry, Mahler revealed that Meghan look “terrified”. (Credit: Getty)
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Appearing in public solo is something that the former Suits star is apparently going to have to get used to.

“It’s clear that a twin-track approach is evolving,” a friend of the couple told People magazine of their work lives.

The pair are splitting their interests, with Harry focusing on philanthropic efforts while Meghan pursues commercial opportunities such as launching her American Riviera Orchard business.

The timing is awkward for Meghan, who has come under fire over her leadership style after a current staffer described her as a “dictator in high heels” to the Hollywood Reporter.

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The rebrand, however, is necessary for the once very popular prince if he wants to have any hope of being accepted back home in England, claims royal historian Hugo Vickers.

Prince Harry meets with locals while on a visit to Africa.
While Meghan had gone camera shy in LA, Harry looked to be having a ball doing charity work in Lesotho.

“Prince Harry is trying to sort of turn himself into the old Prince Harry and do what he was very good at,” Vickers told British newspaper The Sun. “He is giving out awards instead of accepting them and talking about the issues that he likes talking about when he’s on his own.

“I don’t think that anything she’s doing at the moment is going to appeal to people in the UK very much.”

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The royal expert believes the split could extend much further than just Harry and Meghan’s career aspirations. Could something more troubling be happening behind the scenes for the parents of Prince Archie, 5, and 3-year-old Princess Lilibet?

“I am picking up vibes and rumours from California that things are not actually very good between the two of them,” Vickers said. “I wonder whether in a year or so when we look back at this time we won’t think that this isn’t the beginning of something quite serious.”

Does Meghan Markle have a book deal?

Following the success of Prince Harry’s 2023 memoir Spare, it feels like only a matter of time until the duchess will be dropping her own bombshells.

And while the Sussexes have already spilled plenty about their time in the royal family and why they left, Meghan revealed she kept a diary during that time which could give her plenty of new material to draw on.

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According to a publishing insider, Meghan is at the centre of a bidding war to secure her story.

Meghan Markle gives speech in colombia
Meghan has a lot to say so a book could be her perfect answer. (Credit: Getty)

“The word in publishing circles is that everyone’s mad to land Meghan’s memoirs and the numbers being thrown around are ridiculously high,” an insider told Closer.

“Love her or hate her, there’s no denying that she has an insight into the royals that no one else can share,”

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The source further added that the duchess could “go nuclear” while telling her version of events, humiliating senior royals like King Charles, Queen Camilla and the Prince and Princess of Wales.

But New York Times bestselling co-author and Wall Street Journal bestselling ghostwriter, Joshua Lisec, tells WHO that would be a mistake.

The author of over 90 books says that Meghan could use a potential upcoming book as a chance to build a brand separate from the royal family, and that her offering should be more than just a memoir.

Meghan speaks at an event with Harry, WIlliam and Kate
Meghan kept a diary during her time as a working royal which would give her plenty of material to write a book. (Credit: Getty)
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“Anything that Meghan Markle writes will probably do well, especially if she adds some new details about controversies from her time working as a royal, but that particular story has been told already, so there’s only so much new to say,” Lisec said.

“A smarter approach would be to use her own experiences as a launching point for a broader book that gives advice to other women who find themselves unwelcome in their husbands’ families and struggling to find their way. This would help her build her own brand as an independent woman and strengthen her connection with readers in ways that could pay off down the road.”

Where did Meghan Markle and Prince Harry buy a new house?

Not content with their luxe property near the beach in Montecito, Harry and Meghan have purchased a second home.

The couple are finally starting to dip their toes back into waters across the Atlantic with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex picking up a second place in Portugal.

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The Sussexes are reported to have purchased a multimillion-dollar beachfront property not far from the home of Harry’s cousin Princess Eugenie, 34, who lives there with husband Jack Brooksbank.

The purchase came not long after Harry celebrated his 40th birthday where he received quite a large inheritance from his late great-grandmother.

harry and Meghan at the beach in Australia
Because one home close to the beach wasn’t enough, Harry and Meghan bought another one in Portugal. (Credit: Getty)

The move could be about trying to mend fences with the royals, as Harry, 40, seeks to be able to take on more charity work and hopes for some official duties.

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“It doesn’t mean he’s going to return to England. But Portugal is not so far from London,” royal expert Hugo Vickers told The Sun.

The biographer also thinks Eugenie “could be a wonderful route in” to rejoining royal life thanks to his cousin maintaining a close relationship with King Charles.

Of course, it could give Harry a good place to use all of the surfing moves he picked up from champ Kelly Slater who he recently had lessons off.

Looking for more Royal content? Head to the  WHO Royals section.

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