american riviera orchard - what was that all about then?

[Tenmus]

It seems to have gone the same way as their Sussex Royal site. I don't know much about social media or PR, but this all seems pretty odd and ineffectual.

But THEY knee it was happening it's just another nasty Harry power move.

(I do not for one second, thinks it's all Meg. Not even 50/50)

In my view, her styling these days is awful when she is doing formal wear. Look at the pics of her when she was Being Royal before the Sandrinham Agreement. Flawless, perfect. Every single time. Now, she just doesn't achieve that any more. Even with the casual wear now, she often looks not put together and in need of an iron.

People don’t buy Celeb brands, as they are usually knockoffs of other popular products .
Target bracket needs to be placed on the low end for it to succeed , for example if Marmalades are priced at $10-14 a jar who will buy them? Only die hard fans wanting to push sales or to give them away as gifts , but those with more disposable incomes will balk at the price and go for the usual well known brands .

The selling out of clothes I can imagine wouldn’t be huge numbers, these clothes are limited numbers, there is no prestige in wearing the same clothes as everyone else.

Thing is we don’t know what she’s going to be selling or at what price point. We don’t know if she’s flogging over priced jam or highlighting local producers, small batch stuff. We don’t even know she’s going to be using it to flog anything particularly, or just doing “life style” with affiliate links.

That's why this 'launch' is so terrible.

'Launching' a brand when nobody, perhaps including its owner, has a clue what it's about is very poor practice.

All we really know about Meghan's lifestyle is that she is very rich and enjoys luxury brands like the Hermes blanket. She is not known for anything rural or food producing. If I think of Meghan in an orchard I would picture her doing a photo shoot and driving off back to the city.
Most people with cooking shows are already known for their recipes, books, restaurant etc.
There is nothing in what we know about Meghan to anchor any brand to.

I agree that people look for authenticity in their brands these days. So celebs have to prove they walk to walk before setting up their own selling sites. GOOP took ages to grow. I signed up to their mailing list early on and it was often just recipes, Gwyneth’s favourite pieces and a few ideas about wellness. It had a fairly
organic growth in scope and audience. But it always felt like and extension of GP’s personality and tastes, even if that wasn’t for everyone.

I struggle to see what Meghan will be selling that can’t be found at all the other over priced, ultra exclusive (griege) homeware brands that are everywhere. I will openly admit that I hate them. They all sell the same over priced napkins and candles and it is mainly tasteless, needlessly expensive, mass produced shit.

@IcedPurple - has it been launched? They’ve created an insta page to get interest, I assume they intended to launch shortly afterwards, but then you had Charles cancer announcement, Kate’s “minor planned surgery” that quickly became “missing princess”- I reckon the whole thing is sensibly on the back burner until such time as Meghan can actually launch it without anyone saying “how dare she do X while Charles/Kate is so sick.” Better to delay 6 months.

would you say anything has been launched?

I really don’t think Megan sacrificed her launch as Charles and Kate habe cancer. They knew of the former, and they knew Kate was sick.

I also don’t think that is something Charles and Kate would want either, if they even give them a thought. She launched. She simply didn’t follow through.

Again, it's not 'they'. It's supposedly her brand. But for 4 years they've done this cringey 'couples' thing, so I guess most people assume its 'their' brand. Which again is poor strategy, as they really should have tried to create separate brand identities.

The Instagram page appeared just over 2 weeks ago, so well after both of the events you mention. Just an empty beige page with no content. It's been said that she's trying to recruit a CEO, so it seems any proper launch is a long time off. And yes, it's poor marketing to dilute your brand in that way. As has been said many times, she will be operating in a very crowded market, so a clear brand identity is needed. Instead, it's a mess.

It is hers but I do believe that she discusses it with Harry. I doubt she flies solo and he’s no clue. That’s why folks think both of them.

and yes it’s a bad idea to launch and not be ready,you loose the velocity from the launch. She will need to launch again.

i think there has been a problem. Something has went wrong. No one can be so stupid as to do this on purpose.

@Vespanest

Both my daughters were recipients of The Diana Awards, in Scotland in 2011, for establishing a safe space for children that were being bullied either at school, at home, or anywhere else. Counselling was also available from professionals, if the problems were too big for the S6 (6th year in Scottish Secondary Schools)

My girls were 17 and 18 when they started this, with a couple of other S6 pupils.

They both got framed certificates, signed by Gordon Brown, presented by a BeeGee, and a silver Diana Badge. I was, and am, immensely proud of them and their achievements.

Please don't say The Diana Awards are of no great significance in the UK, they very much are to my daughters and me!

That’s lovely!
well done to your DDs, that’s a wonderful achievement!

That's lovely @BebbanburgIsMine , well done to your daughters and it's lovely that there is a legacy to the awards themselves.

@ThePoshUns
@ThePoshUns

Thankyou so much for your kind words, I'll be sure to pass them on to my daughters 💕💕

They didn't have it easy themselves, I was a totally skint single mum, having fled after domestic abuse, and them achieving this after the mental abuse from their father saying we'd be living in a very rough area, and me and the kids would end up as useless alcoholic drug addicts, who would never amount to anything made it all the better!

None of us drink, or have ever touched any kind of drugs by the way.

I think the plan was to do their own Duchy original brand to earn some cash. However, given recent announcements, they may well be weighing up whether to rejoin the royal family business. It's a good time for building bridges and if all was forgiven they could be very popular

I'd call Meghan an enthusiastic starter but she doesn't have the work ethic to sustain it so it all fizzles out.

She seems to enjoy coming up with the next money making venture but it was ludicrous to launch a shop that doesn't even appear to be a fully fleshed out concept yet.

That's wonderful, I love to hear stories like this, especially with regards to escaping domestic abuse. You should all be very proud of each other, thank you for sharing

they may well be weighing up whether to rejoin the royal family business. It's a good time for building bridges and if all was forgiven they could be very popular

Does the royal family business want them?

They might want to build bridges, but it was they who burned the bridges in the first place.

Yes, in the present circs the RF could do with an extra pair of hands to take some of the weight from Camilla, but could you trust them after the Oprah interview, and after Spare? Or would you always wonder if they were just collecting more material for their next tell-all book or interview?

(I think part of Meghan's problem is that she has ambitions to succeed in the creative field, but she hasn't really got a great deal of creativity or originality.)

@BebbanburgIsMine what a wonderful story. Well done to your daughters.

Bullying is a plague on childhood and it sound's like your girls did something thoughtful and practical to help in the fight against that.

You must be so proud of them.

@Ratsoffasinkingsauage do you still enjoy goop? I cooked a couple of her recipes and also made some 5 spice muffins which were really good.

i haven’t looked at the webpage for ages (will pop off to do that now I think). Goop does sell / discuss some weird things but it is weird in a funny way, like something a lovely oddball would do.

It would take a long time for the public to accept them, the majority of people find them tasteless and grubby, the minority who are fans would either celebrate seeing them, or be very confused about the fact they wanted back in. Which honestly I suspect they do.

its just all very regrettable , for all of them. How far Harry and Megan went, the things they wrote and said. They went so far, it’s hard to come back from, and it’s also recent, there is no doubt for example they used William’s speech and the Diana awards to launch the archewll prize and Megan’s website.

I would have loved to see them stay before. They had something different and I think they invigorated the royal family. I really liked the Grenfell cookbook as well, I thought that was a wonderful thing to do.

Unfortunately I don’t think there is a way back. They said so many things and they published private conversations and texts. I don’t think there is a way back from that breech of trust.

I think they should focus on their family and their future outside the Royal Family. AOR could be a step on that if they do it correctly.

I understand that H and M had spent a lot of time at Flamingo Estate who sell very niche and expensive produce. I.e. honey from bee hives owned by celebrities. H and M were keen to invest in Flamingo Estate, but the two guys who own it weren't interested and so they have set up this brand instead.