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The would-be lifestyle guru is in something of a jam as her brand rollout seems to come to a halt<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/06\/GettyImages-2069258525-1-e1724240748864.jpg” title_text=”2024 SXSW Conference And Festival – Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”19px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#111111″ text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”-2.75%||||false|false” custom_padding=”4px|8px|4px|8px|true|true” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Insiders say that Meghan Markle is worried about her upcoming lifestyle brand launch<\/p>\n
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It was supposed to be Meghan Markle\u2019s big comeback, heralding a new era for her as a lifestyle guru and domestic goddess after a slew of business flops in 2023. But while it seemed, five months ago, as if the Duchess of Sussex had finally found her road to success with the launch of her lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard, it\u2019s now looking like she\u2019s reached another dead end, and all the fanfare and excited whispers surrounding the venture have since dulled down to a deafening silence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to insiders, the brand\u2019s launch has been delayed by trademark setbacks and bureaucratic red tape that has stopped the duchess from bringing her own range of goods to market, while she\u2019s likewise apparently been held up by a partnership with Netflix that\u2019s prolonging matters further. But that hasn\u2019t stopped speculation that all the delays are simply shrouding the fact that the business has failed before it has even started, and that Meghan is delaying the inevitable: admitting she has another flop on her hands. And that, we\u2019re told, is the duchess\u2019 worst nightmare.<\/p>\n
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Meghan and Harry pictured earlier this week while on a quasi-royal Colombia tour<\/p>\n
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\u201cMeghan\u2019s been putting a really brave face on this and saying any talk of delays are just haters doing their thing,\u201d says an insider close to the 43 year old, who was all smiles last week while accompanying her husband, Prince Harry, on their \u201cquasi-royal tour\u201d in Colombia. \u201cIt\u2019s incredibly hurtful and frustrating that people keep trying to tear her down. It\u2019s so obvious to her that they get a kick out of attacking her, regardless of what the facts are, and have simply seized on this narrative about her business failing. She\u2019s having to hold her head high and block out all the noise. It\u2019s got to be pretty draining and demoralising because here she is, aiming to deliver an incredible product, but she feels like anything she does will be used against her. It\u2019s a huge challenge because the detractors are so loud; but if she gives up, she lets them win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anyone with access to the internet in March will remember the buzz that Meghan created, after launching American Riviera Orchard on social media with a stylish teaser video, which saw her whimsically cooking, arranging flowers and floating through her and Harry\u2019s Montecito mansion in a ballgown. At the time, details remained vague \u2013 as they still do \u2013 but it was reported that Meghan planned to sell textiles, edible products, gardening supplies, tableware, cosmetics and pet supplies. In April, she fuelled global interest further, after sending out an exclusive batch of her homemade jars to 50 of her most influential, high-profile friends, including Mindy Kaling, Kris Jenner and Chrissy Teigen, who duly posted tributes to the jam-making duchess. Then, in June, there was some hint that Meghan was also creating dog biscuits, after close friend Nacho Figueras posted a picture of said canine treats, in a jar that looked very similar to Meghan\u2019s jam jars. But since then, it\u2019s been all quiet on the American Riviera Orchard front, with cynics saying that, like other projects Meghan\u2019s launched in the past, this too has come to nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/08\/GettyImages-1641615041-2.jpg” title_text=”TIAH 5th Anniversary Soiree” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#111111″ text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”-2.75%||||false|false” custom_padding=”4px|8px|4px|8px|true|true” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Meghan sent jam to PR queen Kris Jenner (pictured here with Meghan’s mum Doria)<\/p>\n
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Meanwhile, there have reportedly been some bureaucratic delays that have kept her hands tied. Last week, it was revealed that there were a number of \u201cirregularities\u201d in Meghan\u2019s application to trademark her lifestyle business, which needed to be \u201ccorrected\u201d before she could officially launch and sell things. According to documents pertaining to the US Patents and Tradesmark Office, issues included incorrect classification of yoga blankets, picnic baskets and recipe books, with fees owed to register the trademark amounting to $11,382. All this, sources have said, is nothing out of the ordinary, and is being handled accordingly \u2013 but is a massive factor in holding up the big launch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What\u2019s more, insiders have said that Meghan and Harry\u2019s partnership with Netflix is further halting her plans. As Closer has reported, the duchess has been working on a cooking and homemaking show for the streaming giant, which will tie in with her lifestyle brand. But she has no say in when exactly the show will be aired, and \u2013 as Netflix normally works on content at least a year before airing \u2013 it\u2019s unlikely that her series will premiere before May next year. As the streaming service is handling all commercial dealings of her brand as part of their deal, word is that Meghan simply has to wait until they\u2019re ready to launch the show and business in tandem, and that means biting her tongue as much as possible \u2013 even when faced with criticism and rumours that she\u2019s failed yet again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Meghan and Harry with their pal Nacho Figueras<\/p>\n
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A pal claimed, \u201cThe death will be a huge blow to the Spencer family. In normal times it would be unimaginable that Harry would not be there to support Jane. Of course he would want to be there. It will be a huge gathering of the Spencer clan. But these are not normal times and it may well be that everyone feels Harry\u2019s attendance would just create too much drama. It will be very sad for him if he can\u2019t make it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite everything that has happened, our source says that Kate \u2013 who has been undergoing preventative chemotherapy \u2013 still cares about Harry, and her recent health woes have only made her sentiments clearer.<\/p>\n
\u201cKate has never been someone that could just turn off her feelings with a switch and going through cancer has only made her more sensitive and caring,\u201d they explain.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the fact is, she and Harry shared some wonderful times together, he was very much a brother figure in the true sense of the word. People forget he used to help her when she was having trouble and feeling down, he was always there to cheer her up. Back when she first started dating William it was Harry that went the most out of his way to make her feel welcome in the family and put her at ease. She can\u2019t simply forget all that because of this falling out. Yes, it\u2019s hurtful that things have fallen apart the way but at the same time she doesn\u2019t blame him for taking his wife\u2019s side, because she would expect Williams to do exactly the same thing if the roles were reversed.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Spotify ended its $20m deal with Meghan last year<\/p>\n
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Let\u2019s not forget, there\u2019s a lot riding on Meghan to make a success out of this venture. In 2023, she and Harry made big promises, but didn\u2019t always deliver. Her highly-publicised mentorship programme disappeared without a trace, while her Archetypes podcast was slammed for not delivering as much content as it promised. Harry and Meghan were duly dropped from their $20m Spotify deal, with an executive calling them \u201cf**king grifters\u201d. Meanwhile, despite drawing in huge numbers with their Netflix documentary\u00a0Harry & Meghan,\u00a0they\u2019ve produced little more as part of their $100m deal with Netflix, save for Harry\u2019s low-rated documentary about the Invictus Games and a series he\u2019s currently working on about polo. Therefore, it\u2019s no surprise that all of Meghan\u2019s eggs are in her cookery show basket \u2013 but, as our source explains, it\u2019s torturous for her to have to wait until all the red tape is removed to strike. Between patent complications and Netflix\u2019s scheduling issues, she has no choice but to grin and bear it, all the while knowing that people are assuming it\u2019s all a front for another flop.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, Meghan\u2019s going to be gun-shy about releasing things when people are hellbent on tearing her down,\u201d says our source. \u201cShe\u2019s highly aware of the bigger picture, which is that she and Harry have this incredibly expensive lifestyle to maintain. That\u2019s the driving force here \u2013 she\u2019s really counting on this venture becoming something on a par with Gwyneth Paltrow\u2019s Goop or Martha Stewart\u2019s lifestyle brand. But all the setbacks and unexpected costs are really testing her patience.\u201d<\/p>\n
For now, it seems as if Meghan is putting on a brave face, and ostensibly showing the world that she\u2019s hardly fussed by all the cynicism and scrutiny. Luckily for her, she\u2019s had her and Harry\u2019s Colombian trip to keep people somewhat distracted; and the Duke\u2019s 40th\u00a0birthday next month will also no doubt keep Sussex scrutinisers busy. Nevertheless, with those in her camp still insisting we\u2019ll see some American Riviera Orchard products sometime later this year, there\u2019s no doubt that the heat is on Meghan to deliver the goods. Whether she can prove her naysayers wrong in the process remains to be seen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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halt<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":2945,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"closermag","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3353"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3394,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3353\/revisions\/3394"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Read 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