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.

Every time I read about Flamingo Estate I think about that American TV series in the 1980s - Flamingo Road starring Morgan Fairchild . Dire.

They did when the “advisers”, er “suggested” that they probably shouldn’t invite Meghan’s niece to the wedding.

I think the plan was to be rich and famous.
How could all be forgiven? They didn't scratch a car or forget a birthday.
They intentionally set out to get a big bucks career out of slagging off the royals, invading privacy, pretending they're victims yet at the same time living an exclusive life and being very royal indeed.

dsis read in foreign press that the Flamingo thing had intervened legally and that put the handbrake on American Orchard Riviera.

I think a pp was near the mark when they said that ARO might just be lifestyle + links + a bit of own labelling, rather than own products, which is a tremendous risk and needs $$$$$$$ of capital.

Actually the flamingo estate thing makes sense, and that could have been the problem, they were going to rebrand it and it’s fallen through.

but bloody hell, 80 bucks for a jar of jam!

https://flamingoestate.com/

Bullshit probably 🤣

Good morning my little rain cloud! Isn’t it wonderful when you find some people with whom you have a shared sense of humour!

🤣🤣

Agree, but setting up their own manufacturing and order to cash network would be bigger. So it does seem likely they just want to jump on someone else’s bandwagon, which is fine it’s what most of them do.

but looking at the advert of Megan cooking, the flowers, the comments on jam etc, it ties perfectly to that flamingo estate website, who sell flowers, jam, etc and it does seem logical they were going to tie to that and jumped in to launch before it 3as agreed.

or they were launching to show flamingo estate how large the foot fall would be but we all know just following the site doesn’t mean you’d buy , there will be a lot of people on there who are either journos, fans with no real money or from what I could see, a load of small business owners trying to get involved.

the flamingo estate stuff does look beautiful..natural, elegant, aspirational, but you need very deep pockets to buy regularly. I can see why it may have appealed to Megan as something to use.

Dear god I remember that! Her hair was massive

I still have a feeling ( no evidence) that something is going on behind the scenes as this venture goes against the Sandringham Agreement otherwise what was the point of the “ launch”?

That quiche recipe on the flamingo estate webpage 😋.

I hope they not are going for that segment though, it looks like flamingo estate has a very established niche, links to farmers and grows a significant amount of crop for their produce. I think that will be to work intensive in a way that may not be suitable for the Sussexes (digging, farm work, frequent liaising with local farmers).

I am picturing them doing something more glamorous… but not sure what…

A Quick Look at the website illustrates even they struggle to get things right all of the time. Eighty dollars for a tiny box of fruit, where purchasers are giving less than 5 stars and even just 1 star because in some cases the fruit is overripe, not packaged securely enough to prevent damage or even spoiled. https://flamingoestate.com/products/peak-season-fruit-box

I think reading the reviews puts into perspective just how hard it is to run a successful business like this.

Idk what H&M have in mind. However, I don’t see how they can compete in this high end market. Just thinking about myself and where I would start if I were to contemplate such an endeavour when (similar to them) I have zero experience is daunting.

As if all would ever be forgiven 🤣

@PilatesHippo more glamorous as in much less work? It isn't easy to be a domestic goddess.

Delays because of the title change? 😂

https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1882363/prince-harry-meghan-markle-duke-duchess-hollywood-title-change

That's a great April Fool, @BemusedAmerican !

That's brilliant

I'm not quite sure that's true.

Or that's what H&M said they were told. I remember at the time it was reported that the Palace had been encouraging Meghan to get her father over to the UK & involve him in the wedding - BP feeling its easier to manage when at close quarters. If they were encouraging her to get her father over, why on earth would they not want her niece there? It was so obvious she had no family members present other than her mother.

Did Harry himself not say that the late Queen told Meghan to go over and speak to her Dad but she refused ?
Why do that if the RF didn’t want her family there ?

@BemusedAmerican more glamorous as in less digging in the soil, focussing on crops and developing relationships with several farmer suppliers.

i was envisioning more curating, fashion, affiliate sales of curated items. Not necessarily less work, just more desk based and less demanding on clothes and manicures 😂. That is just my own speculation though and I could be entirely off.

I would personally have a preference for the former but we are all different.

@BemusedAmerican - that’s brilliant- forwarding that to the family chat for a laugh

I think the OP was referring to what the neice in question said in the Netflix documentary. That she was close to Aunty Meghan but Meghan told neice that the Palace had advised Meghan not to invite her to the wedding.

Yes, that's obviously nonsense. The Palace would want Meghan to invite her pals and relatives. Why would they only want Doria there?
Sounds made up (again) to me.