The Archewell Foundation via Getty Images
Meghan Markle will make her return to public life with a bang in the New Year, Page Six can reveal.
The Duchess of Sussex has barely been seen over the past few months as she readied her new products, but she will launch her Netflix show centered around “cooking, gardening and entertaining” in “early 2025”.
Alongside that will – finally – come the launch of her much-anticipated lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard.
It comes amid swirling speculation that all was not well with the development of the brand; which has so far only been promoted with cutesy baskets of homemade jams sent to Markle’s celebrity BFFs, from Kris Jenner to Chreissy Teigen and actress Abigail Spencer.
The brand was announced amid great fanfare back in March, but as Page Six revealed, Markle, 43, has not worked with local factories or jam makers near her home in Southern California on her products, prompting questions of who exactly is on the team behind the products.
One Hollywood insider told us they even heard rumors the brand had become a “s–t show” behind the scenes, but one source in the know told us, “She’s been keeping her cards close to her chest.
“But I can tell you that she is the CEO of American Riviera Orchard, so all these rumors about her having a hard time finding a CEO are false.”
Markle has been working with people outside of the Archewell Foundation, which she and husband Prince Harry created, to get the brand up and running — although some Archewell staffers are involved, sources said.
“As far as Meghan being quiet, she’s been in the background working on her entrepreneurial efforts,” said an industry insider, “both the Netflix project and her brand will come out within the same timeline in the New Year.”
“It’s going to be a good year for Meghan specifically, she’s spent the majority of the year doing work behind the scenes to launch a project in the first few months of 2025.”
We first revealed how Markle aims to follow in the footsteps of lifestyle doyenne Martha Stewart with her Netflix show, and clips promoting her brand have showed her in the kitchen at a stunning Montecito estate.
She filmed her show, which celebrates “the joys of cooking, gardening, entertaining and friendship,” according to Netflix, around California and at the sprawling home of Tom and Sherrie Cipolla, keen philanthropists who are both fixtures on the Montecito society scene.
Asked about Stewart’s thoughts on her new rival, a close friend told us, “We’ve joked that she doesn’t even think twice about Meghan Markle…she doesn’t even consider her to be on her radar!”
The 83-year-old has a hit Netflix documentary, ‘Martha’, based on her life. The friend sniffed, “Martha’s documentary was celebrated, but what Meghan and Prince Harry do is mocked. They’re in two separate universes when it comes to public opinion.”
Similarly, Rachel Richardson, a former SnapChat exec and writer of the Highly Flammable trends newsletter, added, “Meghan should sit down and watch the Netflix doc ‘Martha’ and make notes, as it lays out the pitfalls and opportunities afforded to women who run lifestyle brands.”
“What Martha has aced her whole career is understanding how to go viral and what platforms help her do that,” Richardson added, “TV, of course, is a powerful medium and the Netflix show will help her reach millions. But Meghan needs savvy strategies for social media.”
Markle should “eschew her buttoned up vibe”, Richardson said, “If she is forward thinking then she’ll be strategizing about live streaming as that’s really having a moment.
Markle has, however, been taking advice from powerful friends like Claire Waight Keller, the former Givenchy designer who created her wedding dress, and who has signed a big deal with Uniqlo, alongside Victoria Jackson, a QVC star and make-up entrepreneur.
She also joined a host of powerful women including Gwyneth Paltrow and Reese Witherspoon at the G9 summit in the Hamptons this summer. She also this month announced she’s a financial backer of her longtime colorist and friend Kari Lee’s new hair care line, Highbrow Hippie.
Cooking has always been on Megan’s radar – she published a cookbook to raise funds for the survivors of the Grenfell fire while living in the UK – and earlier this month she joined Afghan women at a holiday dinner in California.
Last year, she and Prince Harry founded the Welcome Project through Archewell, to support “women-led programming for recently resettled Afghan women to help build more inclusive and connected communities.”
“The holidays come up, and have already begun in many regards, it brings up so much emotion for people,” Meghan told the group, as Marie Claire reported. “You miss home, you miss your country, and also can find comfort in the new community that you have here.” She added, “I’m grateful that we are able to be a part of that community.”
But despite everything, Markle’s brand has suffered some trademark snafus.
In documents seen by Page Six, the Duchess’s legal team earlier this month asked the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for extra time to launch American Riviera Orchard.
They have requested a three-month extension in her attempt to secure a trademark for the yet-to-be released brand.
If they miss the next deadline, Markle will be forced to kickstart the application process from scratch.
The former ‘Suits’ actress’ extension request comes just one month after a luxury food and gift retailer called Harry & David claimed the name is too similar to its “Royal Riviera” product line.
The US Patent and Trademark Office received a protest filing on Oct. 31. The company’s “Royal Riviera” trademark is currently registered to the brand’s pear gift baskets, which are grown in Oregon.
And in September, the mom-of-two’s trademark application was refused by the USPTO, who warned that businesses cannot trademark geographical locations.
Markle was given three months to address the response made by the USPTO — prompting her to now request an extension.
She was also told to pay an additional $700 to move forward with the trademark filing.
A Sussex source this week told us this was all “routine and expected” when filing for trademarks and they would be responding in “due course”.
We will see Markle next week as she celebrates her friend Tyler Perry – the godfather of her daughter Princess Lilibet – at the Paley Honors Fall Gala event on Wednesday at the Beverly Wilshire hotel in Beverly Hills.
That same day, Prince Harry will join Andrew Ross Sorkin for a conversation at The New York Times DealBook Conference in NYC.
As the couple haven’t been seen together for a few weeks, the rumor mill has already buzzing that there could be trouble in paradise for the royals. However, another source who knows the couple, who also have a son, Prince Archie, 5, sighed, “They are going to be criticized no matter what. When they’re together, there’s headlines that Meghan is too controlling or trying to be the star of the show.
“The Duke and Duchess are a married couple and in a normal relationship, you don’t do every single thing together…they also have to raise a 5 and a 3-year-old and somebody has to remain in California while the other person is out of state.
“It also wouldn’t make sense for Meghan to be the focal point for Harry’s patronages, and the same goes for Meghan’s philanthropic efforts, for example if it’s something to do with women, which is near and dear to her heart.
“But you do see an appropriate overlap — for example when they went to Columbia to further the work of their foundation, then you see them work as a unit.”
The couple’s Netflix documentary, ‘Polo’ is out on December 10 and you will see a cameo from Markle, but she and Harry don’t want the spotlight of the show to be on them, a friend said. As Page Six revealed, the Polo project and the Markle project will likely see the end of the couple’s multi-million dollar deal with Netflix.
Markle will also join Harry at the Invictus Games in Vancouver in February, we’re told.
As for Harry, he remains estranged from his father and brother – both of whom did not reach out personally on his 40th birthday in September, we can reveal.
Instead, King Charles and Prince William gave nods via social media posts.
The Sussexes have not been invited to Sandringham, the King’s country estate, in the UK for Christmas. instead they will have a quiet holiday with Markle’s mom, Doria Ragland, and close friends.
“Harry has had a great year and he’ll continue to keep working on his passion projects,” said a friend.