By Sarah
Published: 06:27 EDT, 15 March 2024 | Updated: 06:27 EDT, 15 March 2024
!Meghan Markle
Is this the What Three Words address for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s magnificent Montecito mansion? I’ve checked, and sadly, it’s not. But it is the name of the Duchess’s new lifestyle brand, launched on Thursday with a stylish Instagram reel, complete with a regal-looking crest and swirly calligraphy.
Blousy pink and white blooms and a whimsical soundtrack accompany an atmospherically soft-focus shot of the Duchess hard at work in a white tank top (ever practical, our Duchess) in her elegantly earth-toned kitchen before we catch a final glimpse of her looking effortlessly regal in a full-length gown. As you do. Move over Nigella Lawson, there’s a new Domestic Goddess in town.
The name, American Riviera Orchard, is somewhat baffling. It sounds like the kind of bonkers moniker a pop star would give their child: Blue Ivy (Beyonce), Daisy Dove Bloom (Katy Perry), Bluebell Madonna (Gerri Halliwell). But no matter. It’s Meghan’s baby, and she can call it whatever she likes.
Because for once, I don’t think it’s a bad idea of hers. It’s certainly one of her better enterprises of late. Ever since the Duchess left the UK, she and Prince Harry have been seemingly unable to move on, obsessed with exacting revenge on the folks back home. They’ve turned into a right pair of trolls, too preoccupied with what they’ve left behind to see what lies ahead, too busy carping about the past to start building any sort of future.
This new venture feels like a welcome departure from that distinctly negative and very toxic mindset, a return to the Meghan Markle of old—the one we all rather liked—the sassy, stylish, independent woman with killer heels and a career of her own. Before she met the prince, she had her own lifestyle blog, The Tig, and the truth is she was rather good at it. She certainly seemed to be much happier doing that than she ever was being a working royal.
So why not? Why not go back to her roots and take up where she left off, only with a few more strings to her bow, not least the swirly title and princely accessory? It’s much more fun than those rather dry, sanctimonious podcasts of hers, and it’s certainly a lot less tedious, for all concerned, than endlessly moaning about micro-aggressions.
Besides, someone’s got to pay for that expensive California lifestyle, and since Prince Harry’s precise skillset does not yet seem to have become clear, someone’s got to keep the family in private jets1.
