One year ago, the Duchess of Sussex signed with WME, one of the biggest agencies in Hollywood. She was reportedly being courted by multiple agencies, which might explain why power brokers from those other agencies were suddenly eager to bad-mouth her after she signed with WME. In any case, it’s clear that Meghan has a plan and that she and WME have spent the past year cooking up something special. American Riviera Orchard will hopefully be a great lifestyle brand, with cookbooks and a cooking show and lots of products. Incidentally, with each new update on all of ARO’s trademark applications, it seems like people really believe that she’s going to be selling all of it – no, she’s applying for all of the trademarks so that Piers Morgan won’t finance some ARO knock-off line because she forgot to trademark ARO-branded laxatives. Anyway, please allow some “royal experts” to cry about how Meghan needs A-list support for her brand:
The duchess announced the launch of the lifestyle brand this month with a vintage-style video of Meghan cooking and arranging white hydrangeas and roses. Meghan reportedly intends to flog scented oils, air fragrance reed diffusers, incense and non-medicated veterinary grooming preparations such as pet shampoo and conditioners. But experts believe it could be a flop unless she calls upon her celeb phone book.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told The Sun: “The whole enterprise doesn’t sound to me like one that would be Hollywood A-list. But if she can get out to endorse the said products – George Clooney, perhaps Oprah then, that’s another thing. I mean, she had Hollywood a Listers at the wedding. Now is the time to call on them.Now she’s launching this. If she gets a-listers to back her and back her publicly – I’d be very interested to see what happens.”
Industry insiders have told Page Six that Meghan’s site will focus on home, food, garden and lifestyle goods.
The source said: “She’s been working on this for over a year and it’s all the things that are close to her heart — all the things she’s passionate about.”
The account’s biography says the brand is “by Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex” and visitors are linked to a website where they can join a mailing list.
“She needs George Clooney’s endorsement!” Why? She has not even sold one little jar of jam and she’s already gotten millions of dollars worth of free media. All she did was start an Instagram account and Tom Bower is already saying that ARO-branded dishware will destroy the monarchy. The more these people try to climb up Meghan’s ass, the more people want to buy whatever Meghan is selling to support her.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red. Cover courtesy of Time.
-
- 176162, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex attend Trooping the Colour for the official birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. London, United Kingdom – Saturday June 9, 2018. Photograph: © PacificCoastNews. Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Avalon): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000,Image: 515356518, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – DIRECT SALES ONLY – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: PacificCoastNews / Avalon
-
- Meghan, Duchess of Sussex in Johannesburg, on October 02, 2019, to visit a township near Johannesburg where they will meet with inspiring local youth entrepreneurs and view skills initiatives addressing the rising unemployment challenge faced by youth in South Africa Photo: Albert Nieboer / Netherlands OUT / Point de Vue OUT |,Image: 538547272, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: UK and US ONLY – DIRECT SALES ONLY – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Albert Nieboer / DPA Picture Alliance / Avalon
-
- (200310) — LONDON, March 10, 2020 () — Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, arrives at Westminster Abbey to attend the annual Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey on Commonwealth Day in London, Britain, March 9, 2020. (Photo by Ray Tang/),Image: 563914158, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS excluding China – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Han Yan / Avalon
-
- Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, at a benefit concert for Santa Barbara first responders on Kevin Costner’s estate in Montecito, USA, on 22 September 2023.,Image: 807665836, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: JERRY PEREZ / Avalon
-
- Meghan Markle during a visit to youth-orientated radio station, Reprezent FM, in Brixton, south London to learn about its work supporting young people. The Reprezent training programme was established 10 years ago in response to the rise in knife crime, to help young people develop and socialise through radio.
-
- Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is seen during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing to discuss the on-going federal response to Covid-19 on Tuesday, May 11, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.,Image: 610355620, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: usage worldwide, Model Release: no, Credit line: Greg Nash – Pool via CNP / DPA Picture Alliance / Avalon
George Clooney? Ok Richard Fitzwhiskers, ok. Thanks for the marketing advice, I’m sure Meghan and WME do not have the faintest idea how to pull this thing off. /s
Believe, the Duchess needs no one else but herself to sell her wares.
I am waiting to buy her products, like now!
Ok Richard Fitzwhiskers 🤣 THANKS FOR REMINDING US THAT MEGHAN IS THE ALISTER 😍😍😍
None of Meghan’s detractors have any marketing and or financial expertise. Nor have they created a successful business. Nor do they represent Meghan’s actual customer base.
Royal commentator? Give me a break.
Besides, doesn’t Meghan know that being healthy, wealthy, and successful is SO out of fashion nowadays? /s
Everything is going to sell out as soon as it’s up, because the whole world knows that every purchase will Destroy the Monarchy. Hooray!
💯 agree. She doesn’t need anyone with all the free advertising that the bm will be doing for her.
Yay!!
Quality products at reasonable prices don’t need any celeb endorsement. I haven’t rushed out to Dunkin Donuts because Affleck did an amusing commercial about them. If I want a donut, I consider them because of the quality of the product and the pricing.
Thank you!!!!!!
These people are beyond ridiculous.
Soooo Meghan is not A List? Yes she is. She is the only endorsement her products need.
Meghan and Harry are as A List as you can get. The haters are delulu.
They are beyond delulu. Just like Meghan is beyond Alist. She is one of the most famous people in the world. She is the most searched woman in the world consistently year after year. And their hate helped make her that way.
Clothes Meghan wears see a spike in sales and sell out. The same holds true for jewelry, objects like that Hermes blanket, Clevr Blends…
Meghan is in the news constantly. In fact, she’s partly an A-lister because idiots like this can’t stop talking about her.
Even other royals are copying Meghan’s dress sense. The shoes, remember when the BRF were suddenly buying the same shoes as Meghan? Like do they not know that we know? The receipts are there. Rota needs to stop their whole-ass clowning.
She was successful before she ever met Harry; and their hate campaign has only magnified her presence on the world stage, not diminished it like they hoped to do.
I was going to say….Meghan IS the a-lister lol
She is an A-lister. Why are they so pressed about this? Are they really going to be beating this drum 10 years from now? She has to earn money. She does not need royal approval on anything since royals don’t put a bean in her belly or shingle over her head. In fact, they took away her domicile. She has a dedicated fanbase who will support her, and if they don’t again WHY DO YOU CARE?!! They really need to believe that this woman is successful only because of her association with Prince Harry, and not that she’s intelligent and hardworking and is successful in her own right.
Remember when Richard Fitzwilliams publicly revealed himself to be an absolute hack by commenting on the Oprah interview before it aired?
Seems he can’t stop being loud and wrong ahead of whatever Meghan does. I look forward to his next humiliation as we see just how wrong he is, again.
And a cheap hack at that. All it took to attract the four of them to participate in something completely untrue was a few hundred dollars/pounds. Pathetic, really. But a good lesson in how the bulk of these “experts” are for sale, and the most we’re likely to get from anything they say is a hint of who’s party line they’re promoting (KP, BP, Middleton, etc.).
ETA: Actually, MY3CENTS said it better and more succinctly just below!
How about “royal expert” needs A-listers like Duchess Meghan to give him relevancy and pay the bills?
There, fixed it.
Exactly
Blah blah blah. I can’t wait to see what Meghan has coming.
Can Mr. 200 pounds-per-month Fitzee Willee please provide me with the list of celebrities who endorsed Gwyneth Paltrow’s Vagina eggs? I hear she’s sold thousands; and I bet old dumb Fitzee Willee bought one with that tiny paycheck of his. Please forgive me, but Fitzee and Maureen are two occupants of the clown car of “royal experts” I just can’t take seriously any longer.
Never took those two seriously to begin with.
Because Richard is such a business success we should all bow to his wisdom 🙄.. I will never forget the desperation of him and his colleagues who they were paid 300£ to give their opinions and feedback about the Oprah interview days before it aired. This is a man who lies for 💷, he knows nothing about anything except peddling propaganda.
One of the new attack lines seems to be about who was invited to the wedding (I assume the subtext is ‘SEE, she never planned to stay’) as this is the second mention I’ve seen in as many days.
Richard Fitzwilliams doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
I’m excited to see how Meghan will promote ARO, but I have a good idea what will happen.
Her team will send PR boxes to a mix of celebrity “friends” and social media influencers who align with the products. Like cooking, home decor and lifestyle influencers. In exchange they will feature the products on their socials and do PR unboxings.
For example, Beyoncé just dropped her hair products line and she threw a party and invited a slew of influencers and did meet and greets with them. Then everyone of them featured the party and products on their socials and YouTube channels.
I hope Meghan does something similar.
This is an interesting question. I assume Beyonce is partnered with a major company, capable of meeting a strong demand, and that’s a great way to utilize SM to get the word out.
But, remember Clevr’s early experiences; a small, local company, Meghan sends a samples package to Oprah, who puts it on Instagram and her Favorite Things list, and they’re initially overwhelmed with orders. Took some months to ramp up their production capabilities. If Meghan plans to highlight at least some similar companies (small, local, some female owned) as I’m sure she is – probably part of the rational behind the name choice – they need to incorporate what was learned from Clevr in their launch planning. (Have a feeling ARO jam will be sold out immediately just from CB readers!).
Good questions. Clevr was a small business she invested in. We don’t know if/who Meghan is partnering with to launch ARO. Will they start small? Are they ready to handle large orders? How quickly will they scale up?
That said, small companies share PR boxes with influencers too.
Adding a TikTok from the Beyonce event
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTLrC9Dfq/
Old white men never for a moment pause to think there is something they really don’t understand and should not act as if they are an authority.
LOL, so true.
Is Harry A list enough?
I think the whole project looks a little bland and beige but Christ on a cracker if that isn’t just my opinion.
Whatever she produces is going to sell all the way out and quickly because people adore her.
What would she need George Clooney for – of all people- how silly. I think Megan and her new line will be just fine all on her own.
Sorry but why would A listers buy her goods? Don’t you know that Megan doesn’t know any A listers, oh apart from Serena, and Beyonce and Katy Perry and the cast of suits and sooooo many others but fitzy, do tell us how many A list “friends you have,? None OK then STFU and STFD.
A. R. O is going to be successful is because it’s
J ust
A merican
M egan 😘
Hey boomer, Meghan is the A lister who sells out every brand she wears. Her brand will be just fine. Suggest you take a marketing class, things have changed since the 1960’s
Fellow boomer who doesn’t pontifical on subjects I know nothing about. .
They have no idea (or they are repressing) how many people buy things or contribute to charities because of Meghan alone. I’m not waiting for Clooney or Oprah, they’ll just slow me down. My credit card is ready.
I am effing sick and tired of these bitch-ass British “Royal Reporters” commenting about subjects they have no background in speaking about, or personal knowledge of Duchess Meghan’s plans and connections. Of all the problems in Great Britain, these clowns track Duchess Meghan as if she’s a working Royal and the next Queen of England. These asshole dowdy reporters know they went too far with harassment and bullying of this black woman and lost the best thing that happened to the Royals since Princess Diana. Tell them to stop their shitty reporting on MM, because they know nothing about her business plans, intentions, and connections.
Nah, these fitzy, ditzy financial wizards aren’t going to lay off Meghan. They’d go broke. It’s not like they are King Charles who gets suitcases and plastic bag stuffed with millions.
Absolutely Meghan is the only A Lister needed, but think if she really needed a celebrity endorsement? The options this woman has from her friends!! Serena Williams? Tyler Perry? Oprah? Didn’t Elton John let them stay in a property he owns?
The levels of delusion are strong.