Meghan Markle’s close friend ‘long before Harry’ may have…

Meghan Markle’s close friend ‘long before Harry’ may have inspired new brand
Meghan Markle’s new lifestyle and wellness brand may have taken inspiration from one of her long-time friends at Soho House, so will her brand follow suit?

Meghan Markle is never one to sit still. With a Netflix deal under her arm, an upcoming podcast with Lemonada Media and her recently launched American Rivieira Lifestyle brand, she’s one stateside-dwelling busy bee.

While her new LA life is always under the media microscope, her close friendships have also been the subject of much scrutiny over the years. Case in point? Soho House Director, Markus Anderson. Global Director of the members-only Soho House group, Nick Jones’ right-hand man was named one of Toronto Life’s 50 Most Influential in 2014. And if recent reports are to be believed, he may have also had a hand in influencing Markle to launch her latest lifestyle venture.

Her American Rivieria Orchard lifestyle brand launched in March 2024. According to a report from Page Six, the brand will focus on home, garden, food, and general lifestyle content, while reportedly selling ‘a variety’ of home goods, such as cookbooks, foods, and kitchenware. To date, only dog biscuits and a (very-limited-edition) jam have been launched, with sources close to the Duchess saying that her jam was made from fruit grown in the gardens of the home in Montecito, California, where she resides with Prince Harry and their two children Archie and Lilibet.

While Markle was allegedly in tears when the product was widely mocked for being: “Expensive and nothing special,” according to royal author Tom Quinn, it seems she’s quickly moved on, with Tatler recently revealing she plans to launch a rosé wine very shortly. Previously revealing it to be her drink of choice, it’s also reportedly what she drank on her first date with Prince Harry at Soho House in 2016. The wine would most likely have been ‘Lady A’, the rosé made for Anderson, and which the private members’ club named after his nickname.

With future products in the pipeline being touted in the press as bedding pillows, soaps, home décor, fragrances cookbooks and cookie mixes, according to the Daily Mail, if demand is high the company might also expand into owning a physical retail space, much like Soho Home itself.