Meghan Markle 'having difficulties finding staff for American Riveria Orchard'

11 June 2024 , 13:27

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Back in March, the Duchess of Sussex soft-launched her new business venture (Image: getty)

Meghan Markle is said to be "having difficulties finding staff for her new brand", according to a royal expert.

Back in March, the Duchess of Sussex soft-launched her new business venture. A new Instagram account emerged on the platform, with American Riviera Orchard unveiled to the world. At the time of soft-launching her brand, Meghan posted an Instagram story teasing the brand's aesthetic with a short video trailer. She then took to the page and shared the brand's logo across a collage of nine grid posts.

But after distributing 50 jars of handmade strawberry jam to a curated list of famous friends, the brand's momentum has appeared to screech to a halt. And now royal author and expert Tom Quinn has claimed that Meghan is finding it difficult to find staff because she wants them to be "full of their own ideas" while also being "compliant to her wishes".

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Meghan Markle soft-launched her new brand earlier this year

Meghan sent Kris Jenner some of the brand's jam (Kris Jenner/Instagram)

Speaking exclusively to The Mirror, Mr Quinn told us: "One of Meghan‘s biggest problems when she lived at Kensington Palace was that she believes that staff should be jump when they’re told to jump – she doesn’t have the ultra-polite old-fashioned English habit of asking staff if they would mind ordering a pizza or ringing for a car or organising a lunch."

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He added: "The result of Meghan’s tough outlook is that she is having difficulties finding staff for her new brand – she wants them to be full of ideas of their own, but also totally compliant to her wishes."

Mr Quinn went on to claim that "Meghan has absolute self-belief", adding: "But to make her brand a success she needs to take and accept advice and allow staff who know far more about these things to make some of the decisions. This is really difficult for Meghan as she is not a natural delegator."

It is not known when Meghan will hard launch American Riviera Orchard, with the website for the brand still only displaying the logo of the brand and the function to join the waitlist. The Duchess has gifted some strawberry jam to 50 influencers and celebrities, including Kris Jenner, but it seems that the brand has come to a standstill in recent weeks.

The Mirror has contacted Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's representatives for comment.

Jessica Gibb