Meghan Markle is set to “tap into her regal status” with her new project, a royal commentator has claimed.
The Duchess of Sussex announced she was launching American Riviera Orchard (ARO) back in March, but has so far only sent branded jams to 50 high-profile friends and influencers.
Meghan, 43, is also set to debut a cooking show on Netflix that will tie in with the selling of her ARO products, which could include everything from tableware to dog treats.
According to royal biographer Emily Andrews, ARO is aiming to sell Meghan as a “beacon of inspiration, aspiration and attainability.”
She told Grazia: “Her style will be sold as ‘affordable elegance’ and while her image will concentrate on her status as a family-orientated yet ‘regal’ figure, while customers will be urged to embrace their innate elegance and ‘elevate the every day.’”
However, her lifestyle brand has recently “suffered a bit of a blow.”
The Duchess of Sussex has experienced a setback in her bid to trademark her new homewares empire, after trying to claim complete ownership.
Officials pointed out that the wording of Meghan’s brand is a common nickname for Santa Barbara in California.
Meghan Markle is yet to sell anything from her lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard
Reuters
Without a trademark in place, anyone can “imitate the brand, flog cut-price rip-offs and cheapen its image.”
Andrews added: “Of course, Meghan’s office might submit a disclaimer mark confirming no claim is made to the exclusive right of ‘American Riviera’ but that does prove rather a headache for her and for Netflix (who are helping to bankroll it).”
Further hitches include Meghan and her team filling in the official forms incorrectly, and failing to send enough money.
According to reports, their application was not even signed.
Her team, led by top US attorney Marjorie Witter Norman under the Mama Knows Best LLC firm, applied to the Patent and Trademark Office in the US for legal protection to exclusively trade using the name ‘American Riviera Orchard’.
But the application, filed in March, was rejected and now she has three months to amend the request. Otherwise, it will be removed from the register.
Andrews added: “This all comes at a rather tricky time for Meghan – she and Harry signed a five-year deal with Netflix, which is due to come to an end next year.
“Neither side ever confirmed how much the deal was worth, but aside from their tell-all self-titled documentary series and another on the Invictus Games, they had nothing else to show for the reported £50million.”
