Duchess of Sussex launches new lifestyle brand in return to Instagram

An Instagram Stories video shows Meghan picking flowers and cooking in a rustic-looking kitchen


The Duchess of Sussex is back on Instagram a week after speaking about the dangers of social media platform.

Meghan returned on Thursday, after deactivating her personal account in 2018.

The new account, named 'American Riviera Orchard', features the brand's logo and the bio reads "by Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex".

The page was established this year, and an Instagram Stories video of Meghan shows her picking flowers and cooking in a rustic-looking kitchen.

An Instagram Stories video, using a rustic effect, shows Meghan baking. Credit: @americanrivieraorchard

The American Riviera Orchard’s website and the Instagram page do not include details about the brand’s offerings – retail or otherwise. However, a search of the public trademark database found information on a brand that matched that of Meghan’s new company.

That company, according to the records, offers retail items such as jams and preserves, butters, tablewares, cutlery, tablecloths, cookbooks and digital recipe offerings.

The trademark records show the owner of the mark is an LLC that cites the same address where the office of Richard Genow, who is an attorney for the Duchess, is located.

CNN has reached out to Meghan’s representative seeking more information, as well as her attorney.

The Instagram account has more than 300 thousand followers. Credit: @americanrivieraorchard

Meghan previously ran a lifestyle site called The Tig, but shut the business and its website down before marrying Prince Harry in 2018. The couple left official royal duties in 2020 and live in Montecito, California.

Last week, the former 'Suits' star said she keeps her distance from social media "for my own wellbeing.”

"You have to really wrap your head around why people would be so hateful," she said while speaking on a panel at an event in Austin, Texas.


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