MEGHAN Markle’s lifestyle brand is yet to get off the ground and has faced a number of hurdles since it was announced.
We shared how the Duchess of Sussex has run into some problems with trying to trademark American Riviera Orchard – and she may be late to the party with one of her hero products.
6
Wine lover Meghan Markle could launch a rose wine as part of American Riviera OrchardCredit: Tim Stewart
6
Meghan teased the launch of her brand in March but it is still not liveCredit: Instagram / Internet
The Duchess of Sussex is reportedly planning to launch a bottle of rosé and it’ll be one of the first items available for the public to buy, according to the Daily Mail.
However, some have hailed wine as being a “gimmicky and uninteresting” and even dubbed it as “Lady Petrol.”
According to Air Mail: “Talk about being late to the party.
“Just about everyone who has surfaced on ‘Page Six’ has their own brand of rosé, and peak pink vibes are in the air.”
If Meghan does launch her own rose, she will be joining the likes of Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Snoop Dogg.
Meanwhile, Kylie Minogue’s Kylie rosé made $10million (£7.6million) in sales in 2023 and has sold an estimated 15 million bottles in four years.
Certainly rosé can be a big money earner.
By 2025, the market size for rosé wine is projected to exceed £2.7billion.
And wine expert Tom Gilbey said: “Rosé is the only wine product that looks good on social media.
“You are not selling wine. You are selling the South of France.”
‘Smart’ decision Meghan Markle must make to ‘burnish her image’ amid struggles with American Riviera Orchard, claims royal expert
Strategic brand move for Meg
A branding expert has claimed that Meghan selling rosé could be a “smart move”.
Nick Ede told Fabulous: “California is known for its fabulous wines and grapes so it makes sense that she goes into this market as part of her lifestyle brand.
“Rose wine is still very popular with Kylie Rose being one of the UKs best selling wines turning over millions.
6
Meghan would be following in the footsteps of Kylie Minogue, who has her own Kylie roséCredit: Not known, clear with picture desk
6
Snoop Dogg also has his own wine brand,
“If Meghan can replicate this success then she’ll be following in the footsteps of everyone from Snoop to Gary Barlow!
“A wine is a great way to build on a brand and if it is a success she can introduce sparkling and other grapes like red and white to the collection and build up a name for herself as a great wine seller.”
However, Meghan must be careful if she wants it to be a success, claims the expert.
Nick shared: “Meghan has to make sure her new brand resonates with fans and one thing she has always done well is cleverly integrate charity and philanthropy into everything she does.”
Celebrities with their own wine brands
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie – Château Miraval (Côtes de Provence)
Cameron Diaz – Avaline (Low-intervention, made of organic grapes)
Sarah Jessica Parker – Invivo X (Collaboration with a New Zealand winery)
John Malkovich – Les Quelles de la Coste Rosé IGP Vaucluse (Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir blend)
Drew Barrymore – Carmel Road
Julianne Hough and Nina Dobrev – Fresh Vine Wine Rosé (Low-sugar blend of Pinot Grigio and Pinot Noir)
Jon Bon Jovi (with his son Jesse and French wine-maker Gérard Bertrand) – Hampton Water Rosé
Kylie Minogue – Kylie Rosé
Post Malone – Maison No. 9
Danica Patrick – Danica Rosé
Gordon Ramsay – Elegante Rosato
Lisa Vanderpump – Vanderpump Rosé
Graham Norton – Graham Norton’s Rosé (Blend of Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, and Sauvignon Blanc)
Sting and Trudie Styler – Tenuta Il Palagio Beppe Rosato Toscana IGT
Ridley Scott – Mas des Infermières Rosé
Nicki Minaj – MYX Light Rosé
Mary J. Blige – Sun Goddess
John Legend – Legend Vineyard Exclusives (LVE) Rosé
Jay-Z – Ace of Spades Rosé (Sparkling)
Paul Oakenfold (Spokesperson) – Domaine Bertaud Belieu
Snoop Dogg – 19 Crimes Rosé
Trademark blow
However, it comes as Meghan has suffered a blow in a bid to trademark her new homewares empire – after trying to claim ownership of the entire American Riviera.
In a setback officials pointed out that the wording of her brand is a common nickname for Santa Barbara in California.
Further hitches include Meg and her team filling in the official forms incorrectly, and failing to send enough cash.
6
Meghan is reportedly facing trademark issues with her brandCredit: The Mega Agency
And their application wasn’t even signed.
Her team, led by top US attorney Marjorie Witter Norman under Meghan’s fledgling Mama Knows Best LLC firm, applied to the Patent and Trademark Office in the States for legal protection to exclusively trade using the name ‘American Riviera Orchard’.
But the application, filed in March, has been rejected and now she has three months to amend the request – or it will be removed from the register.
She has been told she can’t have exclusive rights to ‘American Riviera’ because it is a commonly used place name to describe the California coast.
Meg’s soft launch
Meghan, 43, has already sent products including jam and dog biscuits to friends, with further social media interactions expected in the coming weeks.
6
Meghan has so far teased the launch by sending jam to high-profile palsCredit: Social Media – Refer to Source
Sources said the plan was to sell Meghan as a ‘beacon of inspiration, aspiration and attainability’.
Her style will be sold as ‘affordably elegant’, and focused on her status as both a ‘family-oriented’ and ‘regal’ figure, it was said.
Meghan’s lifestyle brand has grabbed the attention of Netflix, which signed a deal with the Sussexes in 2020.
Their first documentary Harry & Meghan, which came out in December 2022, was a global success.
Next came the documentary Heart of Invictus about Harry’s Invictus Games event in August 2023.
But by this point sources were calling the ‘$100million deal’ with Netflix a ‘dead duck’ because of the lack of output and apparent lack of ideas.
But by May next year, after all the existing errors have been corrected, it’s hoped Meghan will be ‘all systems go’ with the brand and the cookery show she has filmed to accompany it.
