What is Meghan Markle up to?
On Thursday, the Duchess of Sussex unveiled a new website and Instagram page for American Riviera Orchard, which appears to be a lifestyle brand, People reported.
The official trademark application for the project was filed on Feb. 2 and is awaiting evaluation by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Although both pages are vague, the application lists several products under “goods and services.”
Together with food, the list also includes tableware, cutlery, recipe books and cookbooks that can be downloaded or printed, coffee and tea services, dinnerware, chargers, napkins, place card holders, beverageware, textile tablecloths, placemats, kitchen and table linens, and gift wrap of fabric.
American Riviera Orchard also requests “retail store services” that include “foods, books, tablescape goods, table linens, and servingware; online retail store services featuring food and beverages, books, tableware, and tablescape goods, table linens, and servingware,” potentially implying that Markle would distribute her products through physical stores.
The application’s final request is for online e-books relating to cookbooks and recipe books.
According to People, the former “Suits” actress showcased her tastemaking abilities on her lifestyle blog, The Tig, where she wrote about food and travel that inspired her and shared personal reflections before she and Prince Harry married in 2018.
“I’ve never been the type of person to do only one thing. I guess that’s how my website was born,” Markled shared in the 2022 Netflix docuseries “Harry & Meghan.”
“There was fashion, there was tons of food, and travel, so it was all of the things that I loved,” she added. “And The Tig wasn’t just a hobby. It became a really successful business.”
After she and Harry got engaged, Markle shut down The Tig and her Instagram page with 3 million followers, making the introduction of American Riviera Orchard her formal social media comeback.
Notably, she unveiled the project on the fourth anniversary of the family’s alleged “freedom flight” from Canada to Los Angeles following their withdrawal from royal duties in the United Kingdom in 2020.
People reported that American Riviera Orchard pays homage to the couple’s roots established in Santa Barbara, California, where they live with their children, Prince Archie, 4, and Princess Lilibet, 2.
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