Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s recent efforts have concentrated on the launch of a new campaign aimed at tackling harm caused to chi…
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s recent efforts have concentrated on the launch of a new campaign aimed at tackling harm caused to children online.
But as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex focus on their latest good cause, called The Parents’ Network, what’s happening to the other projects they’ve launched with great fanfare – including Meghan’s lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard?
After an artfully filmed video for social media was released in March to reveal the Duchess’ plans, celeb pals of the former actress’ were sent beautifully branded jars of jam and dog biscuits.
But little more has been officially revealed about the brand, with no Instagram posts on the firm’s official account since March and the website simply offering fans the chance to join a waitlist.
But what exactly are potential customers waiting for? Jam and dog biscuits? A source told The Daily Mail in June that the priority is instead the launch of a ros wine. It’s unclear when exactly American Riviera Orchard products will be available.
While the Duchess has had many successes, including narrating a Disney documentary, working in Nigeria and a Netflix documentary, American Riviera Orchard isn’t the only venture of Meghan’s post Megxit that doesn’t appear to have skyrocketed yet.
Here, FEMAIL reveals the Duke and Duchess’ projects that, for all the carefully constructed razzmatazz of their launch, have so far come to little.
AMERICAN RIVIERA ORCHARD
American Riviera Orchard may yet to have officially launched – but Meghan has appeared to already be in full promotional mode.
In June, the Duchess sent friend Nacho Figueras a PR package containing some dog biscuits and a jar of raspberry jam from her upcoming brand.
In April, the mother-of-two sent a number of strawberry jam jars – which were part of an initial batch of 50 – to celebrity pals, including Kris Jenner, Mindy Kaling and Chrissy Teigan.
The timing of Nacho’s posts promoting Meghan’s jam caused outrage amongst royal fans, with the Argentinian’s following social media post being inundated with comments declaring him ‘shameful’ and ‘tasteless’.
It’s thought Nacho, who appeared to be in New York at the time, posted the pictures showcasing the gifts at around 11pm in the city, and about 4am in the UK, meaning British viewers saw the posts just hours before the King’s birthday parade.
The Princess of Wales, 42, who has been receiving chemotherapy for an undisclosed form of cancer since February, made a spectacular return to the spotlight during the annual event – marking her first public appearance this year.
Meghan first launched American Riviera Orchard with a video posted on Instagram in March.
Months later, the only sign of activity has been the jars of jam and dog biscuits sent to the duchess’s friends and social media influencers.
But apparently plans are well in progress for Meghan’s ‘lifestyle brand’, which will be inspired by the couple’s enviable life in their £10million mansion on the Californian coast.
The Daily Mail revealed in June, however, that the much-publicised jams will not be the first out of the traps as a money spinner for the brand. Rather, a source told the publication that the priority is instead the launch of a ros wine.
To complement the reported wine launch, it’s expected that other products in the initial tranche of releases will be drinking and serving ware, bar essentials and other products, related to hosting and entertaining.
Meghan’s lawyer has now applied to trademark the American Riviera Orchard brand in the US for various goods, including cutlery, recipe books, tablecloths, napkins, jams, edible oils, vegetable-based spreads and dairy-based spreads. All applications are still pending.
Meanwhile, Meghan has reportedly wrapped up filming for her new cooking and home show, which is being produced by Sony Pictures Television’s The Intellectual Property Corporation and is said to meant to coincide with the launch of her lifestyle brand.
The project in Montecito, which is yet to receive a title or air date, will ‘celebrate the joys of cooking, gardening, entertaining, and friendship’ and is part of Meghan and Harry’s $100million Netflix deal.
In conversation about the new project, a Hollywood source told The Daily Beast: ‘It all went well, and it is in the can.’
The project commenced filming days after Meghan sent out exclusive pots of homemade jam from her brand to her nearest and dearest.
A film permit application exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com showed filming took place in two separate locations.
In April, Meghan, spent the day surrounded by the blooms of Florabundance, a florist 10-minutes drive from Montecito in the coastal California town of Carpinteria.
The day after, production trucks lined the driveway of a $5million property set in eight acres of avocado trees and lemon groves in a gated community in Montecito for filming.
ARCHETYPES PODCAST
After parting ways with Spotify, Meghan’s new deal with a much smaller podcast company is struggling to get off the starting blocks, according to The Daily Mail’s Richard Eden.
Prince Harry’s wife announced amid great fanfare in February that she had signed a deal with Lemonada Media, a female-founded company that wants to ‘make life suck less’.
The Duchess, who produced only one series of her podcast Archetypes for Spotify before parting ways with the company, had signed with Lemonada to develop and host a new series.
However, a source told Eden that there is not expected to be any work broadcast this year. ‘The relaunch of Meghan’s Archetypes podcast got pushed back to 2025,’ the California-based source says.
It is understood that Lemonada did not want the podcast’s launch to be overshadowed by the former actress’s television series, which she began filming at a rented house in Montecito earlier this year. Netflix said the show would ‘celebrate the joys of cooking and gardening, entertaining and friendship’.
Lemonada is said to be concerned that there would also be ‘scheduling conflicts’ between the launch of its podcasts and that of Meghan’s lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard.
A spokesman for Meghan declined to comment at the time, but sources claim she had a list of ‘very high-profile guests’ scheduled to participate in her new podcasts.
Guests on her series of 12 podcasts for Spotify included Wimbledon champion Serena Williams, pop star Mariah Carey, and Sex and the City author Candace Bushnell.
Meghan said in February that she was ‘overjoyed’ to be joining Lemonada, which describes itself as an ‘award-winning, independent…podcast network, with a mission to make life suck less’.
She added: ‘Our plan to re-release Archetypes so that more people can now have access to it, as well as launching a dynamic new podcast, are well in the works. I’m so eager to be able to share it soon.’
In a statement about her new podcast, Meghan said previously: ‘Being able to support a female-founded company with a roster of thought provoking and highly entertaining podcasts is a fantastic way to kick off 2024.
‘Our plan to re-release ‘Archetypes’ so that more people can now have access to it, as well as launching a dynamic new podcast are well in the works. I’m so eager to be able to share it soon, and am overjoyed to be joining the Lemonada family.’
Cordova Kramer, from Lemonada, said at the time: ‘We are beyond honored that Meghan has trusted us to help democratize access to Archetypes, and that so many more people around the world will have access to the series soon.
‘Meghan’s talent as host, creator and conversationalist is unparalleled and we are thrilled to co-create a new series with her that fosters her approach to creating art that matters.’
40X40 PROJECT
In 2021, the Duchess called on her star-studded network of actors, activists, fashion designers, musicians and world leaders to back her 40×40 project, which was launched to coincide with her 40th birthday.
Close friends including fashion designer Misha Nonoo and makeup artist Daniel Martin announced their support for the initiative which encouraged people to commit to giving 40 minutes of their time to support women going back to work.
Meghan announced the scheme in a video alongside actress Melissa McCarthy. She personally chose 40 friends in high places to help publicise the announcement, including Prince Harry’s cousin Princess Eugenie.
A full list of all 40 participants was not shared at the time but more than 20 of them eagerly posted about their involvement on social media.
Each person was sent a branded t-shirt emblazoned with the message: ‘For women who give everything. We give our time. Are you in?’ The accompanying note explaining the project was signed ‘As Ever, Meghan’.
There was also an embargo notice, notifying recipients as to when they could post about the project, so as not to ruin Meghan’s big reveal.
Announcing the 40×40 in the video, recorded in her spotless £11million mansion in Montecito, California, Meghan told Melissa McCarthy: ‘It’s my 40th birthday and I’ve got an idea. Because I’m turning 40, I’m asking 40 friends to give 40 minutes of their time to mentor a woman who is remobilising back into the workforce.
‘Over 2million women in the US alone and tens of millions around the world have lost their jobs due to Covid. And I think if we all do it, and all commit 40 minutes to an act of service, it can have a ripple ripple effect.’
It was unclear at the time as to exactly how the project would work, or whether there would be any way to measure its success.
But according to The Sun, less than 10 months on, there was no follow-up on the campaign and royal expert Angela Levin said she thought the 40×40 project had been ‘cancelled’.
She said: ‘I think it’s very quietly gone into the dustbin,’ added that it was an idea of the royal’s that ‘didn’t come off’.
There also doesn’t seem to be any mention of the 40×40 project on the Duke and Duchess’ Archewell website.
SPOTIFY DEAL
Spotify and the Sussexes’s audio production company Archewell Audio released a joint statement in 2023 saying they had ‘mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together’.
But Bill Simmons, Spotify’s head of podcast innovation and monetisation, blasted the Duke and Duchess as ‘f****** grifters’ just hours after their reported £15million deal was axed last summer.
‘The f***ing grifters. That’s the podcast we should have launched with them,’ he said in an episode of his own podcast. ‘I’ve got to get drunk one night and tell the story of the Zoom I had with Harry to try and help him with a podcast idea. It’s one of my best stories.’
Simmons, a sportswriter, founded sports and pop culture website and podcast network The Ringer, and sold it to Spotify in 2020 for $200 million. He then joined Spotify, and has long been critical of the couple.
Last January, he blasted Prince Harry, saying it was ’embarrassing’ to be affiliated with the same company.
‘Shoot this guy to the sun,’ he said, according to sports website The Big Lead. ‘I’m so tired of this guy. What does he bring to the table? He just whines about s*** and keeps giving interviews. Who gives a s***? Who cares about your life?
‘You weren’t even the favourite son. You live in f****** Montecito and you just sell documentaries and podcasts and nobody cares what you have to say about anything unless you talk about the royal family and you just complain about them.’
The couple produced less than 13 hours of content during the three-year partnership: 12 episodes of Meghan’s Archetypes show, and a 30-minute Christmas special featuring both the Duke and Duchess.
But Archetypes, Meghan’s original Spotify show, had around one million listens per episode and debuted as Spotify’s No. 1 podcast in 47 countries around the world when it launched in August 2022.
The series explored the labels that try to hold women back and included guests such as Mariah Carey, Jameela Jamil and Pamela Adlon.
It won a People’s Choice Award for The Pop Podcast of 2022 and the Duchess won best entertainment podcast host at the Gracie Awards.
PEARL
Harry and Meghan signed a five-year agreement with Netflix in 2020 worth an estimated $100million (£80million) but earlier this year there was speculation that their contract renewal was under threat.
The couple’s first launch on the streaming giant was their six-part documentary ‘Harry and Meghan’ which was released in 2022 and caused controversy with its series of swipes at the Royal Family.
Three weeks after, their second Netflix production was released, ‘Live to Lead’, which was about global leaders who fought for social justice.
But in May, Netflix dropped Meghan’s planned animated series Pearl as part of a wave of cutbacks prompted by the streaming service’s drop in subscribers.
All references to her doomed animation were wiped from her Archewell website after the series was axed by the streaming giant.
A prior description of the series under the Archewell Productions subsection was nowhere to be found after it was cancelled.
‘Like many girls her age, our heroine Pearl is on a journey of self-discovery as she tries to overcome life’s daily challenges,’ a now-removed quote from Meghan read.
It continued: ‘I’m thrilled that Archewell Productions, partnered with the powerhouse platform of Netflix and these incredible producers, will together bring you this new animated series, which celebrates extraordinary women throughout history.’
The quietly deleted reference came a week after Netflix announced the cancelation of the animated show, in which Meghan was taking the role of executive producer along with David Furnish, Elton John’s husband.
Pearl was only in the development stage and was set to see a young girl inspired by Meghan – whose name means ‘pearl’ in Welsh – take on various social injustices, while highlighting the work of feminist icons.
Netflix made several cuts in late April and early May, including dropping two other children’s shows.
Meghan announced the now-cancelled programme in July 2021. She was taking on the roles of ‘creator and executive producer’ – marking the first time the former actress and Suits star would work in the position of EP.
The Duchess said Pearl would ‘weave together fantasy and history’ while focusing ‘on the adventures of a 12-year-old girl’ as she attempts to ‘overcome life’s daily challenges’.
While few details had been released about the series, many believed the show was based – at least in part – on Meghan’s own childhood, citing how she named the show and its title character Pearl, the original meaning of her name.
The name Meghan originated in Wales, where it is traditionally spelled Megan, however, it originally came from the Greek name Margaret, derived from the word margarits, which translates to ‘pearl’.
Yet the Sussexes now appear to be back on track with Netflix, after it was revealed they are set to launch two new shows for the streaming giant on cooking, gardening and polo as part of their ongoing $100 million deal.
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