There were a lot of questions last night about the plans of the Duchess of Sussex to introduce her highly anticipated lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard by selling gourmet jam.
She was widely anticipated to time its unveiling to coincide with the debut of her highly anticipated Netflix series With Love, Meghan.
With only about two weeks left before the show premieres on March 4, it is still uncertain where Meghan will get her fruit supply, who will handle the packaging, and if any jars of jam have actually been made yet.
Sources suggest that products from her new line will be subtly featured in the eight-episode series, but both Netflix and the Duchess’s representatives have chosen not to provide any comments on this matter.
And after speaking to dozens of fruit farmers, jam producers and industrial food plants within 100 miles of her home in Montecito, California, The Mail on Sunday can reveal that none claim to know anything about Meghan’s product.
She first touted her American Riviera Orchard strawberry jam early in April 2024 by sending it to celebrity friends including supermodel Chrissy Teigen and Abigail Spencer, her co-star in TV drama Suits, who dutifully posted images on social media.
Labelled with Meghan’s elegant calligraphy, topped with a delicate ribbon tied in a bow, was the embodiment of home-made elegance and gourmet luxury that she is desperate for her lifestyle brand to project. But farmers and jam-makers are sceptical.
‘There’s no way that she’s slaving for hours over a hot stove stirring steaming strawberries,’ said one industrial jam producer. ‘And I doubt she’s setting up an industrial kitchen in her home.
Mystery last night surrounded the Duchess of Sussex’s plans to launch her long-awaited lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard with the sale of gourmet jam
The jam that Meghan shared with celebrity pals. Labelled with Meghan’s elegant calligraphy, topped with a delicate ribbon tied in a bow, was the embodiment of home-made elegance and gourmet luxury that she is desperate for her lifestyle brand to project
‘She’s most likely to use a co-packager who’ll source her fruit, cook it, put it in jars, label it, add the nutritional and ingredient details, and send it out under her company’s name.’
But none of the major co-packagers in Southern California claimed to be making Meghan’s jams. Nor did any farmers or small-batch jam-makers interviewed claim to have heard a whisper about Meghan’s jams.
‘We have no knowledge whatsoever,’ said Molly Gean, whose farm produces gourmet preserves under the brand Harry’s Berries – no connection to Prince Harry.
It remains unclear whether Meghan’s jams are being made with locally grown fruits, or produced in nearby facilities, which may raise questions about her using the brand name ‘American Riviera,’ the term locals use to refer to the Santa Barbara region around where she lives with Prince Harry in Montecito, California.
Meghan’s highly anticipated Netflix series With Love, Meghan is due to begin streaming on March 4
‘Products or services need to come from or originate from the place as identified in the name of the trademark,’ said trademark and intellectual property lawyer Michael Cohen of the Cohen IP Law Group in Los Angeles. It has been suggested that she is struggling to get the trademark approved.
Observers noted the jam Meghan sent to friends last year in a limited run of 50 jars never claimed on its labelling to be ‘locally grown’ or ‘locally manufactured’.
This week the Mail revealed that a selection of Meghan’s products will go on sale in stores called ‘Netflix House’ in malls in Dallas and Philadelphia, bringing consumers merchandise linked to Netflix shows.
A source said: ‘Those stores won’t open for several months. So the question is: Where is she going to sell the products, and does she even have products ready to sell?’
Sources close to Meghan said ‘stayed tuned’ when asked if the brand’s launch was imminent.
Meghan departed last week’s Invictus Games in Canada early, leaving Prince Harry to celebrate today’s closing ceremony alone.
Officially the reason given was that she always planned to leave after a few days to return to the couple’s $14.5million home in Montecito and children Archie, five and three-year-old Lilibet.
But sources have suggested she has returned home to work on her product line. One told the MoS this week that Meghan could launch her company under the ‘With Love, Meghan’ logo. ‘But then Netflix would likely expect a cut of everything she sells,’ they said.
Last night Nile Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at The Heritage Foundation, said: ‘If Prince Harry lied on his immigration application that would be a federal criminal offense and he could face prosecution in the United States.
‘The American people have a right to know whether or not Harry was honest on his application regarding his drug use and whether he received preferential treatment in applying to the United States.’
Heritage Foundation lawyer Samuel Dewey said: ‘We are glad the judge is taking our case seriously and we look forward to reviewing the new material.’
Last night a spokesman for Archewell, Meghan and Harry’s company, declined to comment.
A Netflix spokesman also declined to comment.
