Meghan Markle was reportedly left in tears after her new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, was met with harsh criticism from the public. The Duchess of Sussex had soft-launched the brand in March with the release of a new jam, which she had hoped would help boost her public image.
The 43-year-old Duchess is said to be on a PR campaign to promote the brand, which is set to be the focus of her upcoming Netflix series. Earlier this year, Meghan hinted at the brand’s launch with a cryptic social media video showing her and Prince Harry walking around their Californian mansion.
With Meghan and Harry’s public standing currently low, she had hoped to use the brand to improve her profile. However, the launch did not go as planned, as the jam failed to impress consumers, leading to widespread mockery.
Royal author Tom Quinn claims that the negative reaction left Meghan in tears. According to the Scottish Daily Express, “The one fly in the ointment is Meghan’s new internet brand, American Riviera Orchard. Meghan was in tears when the brand launched, and her new jam was widely mocked for being expensive and nothing special.
Quinn added, “She has reached the point now where she thinks that anything and everything she does will be unfairly criticized. Like her husband, she feels that people are unfairly picking on her – she cannot understand why people don’t admire her work.”
He also noted that Meghan is particularly sensitive about criticism of her luxurious lifestyle in the U.S. “From her point of view, this is something to be admired, not criticized,” Quinn said.
American Riviera Orchard is expected to go live by the end of this year, though a release date for the Netflix series, which is said to “celebrate the joys of cooking, gardening, entertaining, and friendship,” has not yet been announced. Meghan has reportedly finished filming with several big names from the culinary world set to appear.
Meghan and Harry currently reside in the exclusive California community of Montecito with their children, Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3, after stepping back from royal duties in 2020.