Wearing a matching cutaway waistcoat and trousers in beige linen by pared back brand St Agni, accessorised with Cartier jewellery, including a watch once owned by Princess Diana, and Heidi Merrick sunglasses, Meghan Markle cut a sophisticated figure as she attended the exclusive G9 Ventures Summer Summit on 27th July.

It was certainly a star studded affair: held at the secluded, $13 million estate of broker Amy Griffin and her billionaire hedge funder, John Griffin, the event was attended by some of the business world’s best known female power players, including make up mogul Bobbi Brown, Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx, Weight Watchers CEO Sima Sistani and Jamie Kern Lima, the co-founder of IT Cosmetics, with whom she flew in to the Hamptons from Santa Barbara by private jet. Also in attendance: a certain Gwyneth Paltrow, the founder of one of the most successful lifestyle brands in the world, Goop.

The timing and the guest list, particularly Ms Paltrow, was apt for the Duchess of Sussex, rubbing shoulders as she was with such esteemed women, because she is currently poised to launch her own lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard. ‘ARO’ as it has been dubbed, was touted for a spring launch, though it’s now thought to be dropping before the autumn. The brand will reportedly reflect everything that she loves, including ‘family, cooking, entertaining and home décor’ with trademarks already prepared for tableware, coffee and tea services, jellies, jams, tablecloths, cookbooks, servingware, and cutlery.

There was a soft launch on Instagram in March, and its official account has some 614,000 followers already – although since that first spate of posts, and a soft focus video of Meghan appearing to cook in her kitchen, we have heard little more about the highly anticipated brand other than when Meghan sent out advance releases of her products (including homemade jam and dog biscuits) to her famous friends, including Kris Jenner and Chrissy Teigen. There were reports last month that an ARO rosé wine could be the first product available for the public to buy, although there has been no official word from Meghan– and her critics said the celebrity wine market is already far too crowded.

Meghan, who turns 43 on 4th August, is in the process of entirely refocusing her career and image, following a long run of negative press about her, Prince Harry and their relationship with the rest of the royal family. As well as ARO, Meghan and Harry have been focusing on their work with Netflix and their charitable foundation Archewell. Any hold up with the launch of the brand’s website could be down to finalising investors, one source told Grazia, who adds that Meghan has been busy schmoozing in Montecito where she and Harry have been based since they moved to California in 2020, and have made it their mission to surround themselves with influential people such as Brian Robbins, the head of Paramount Pictures, and make up brand founder Victoria Jackson.

‘The success of American Riviera Orchard very much depends on the story and the mood around Meghan and Harry,’ says the source. ‘They are well aware that the direct to consumer strategy means that their own popularity and engagement will heavily influence its success. Making sure everything is perfectly in place is weighing heavily on Meghan ahead of ARO’s launch – but she’s also very excited about what’s to come, it’s by far her biggest move yet.’

With some recent incidents – including the unearthing of an historic spat with BBC presenter Mishail Hussain from 2017, and some criticism surrounding Prince Harry’s decision to accept an ESPY award intended for ‘unsung military heroes’, conditions are not exactly perfect for launch, but when it comes to Harry and Meghan there is so often a controversy that perhaps they never will be. With the forthcoming ten year anniversary of the Invictus Games, Harry’s sporting event for veterans and serving military, in September, their image will be everywhere once again as they take centre stage. Those in the know suggest there could be no better time to take the leap for Meghan when it comes to her new chapter…