The Duchess of Sussex made a surprise return to social media and soft-launched a new business venture.
She's back!
Meghan Markle made a surprising return to Instagram on Thursday, by way of a new business venture. The Duchess of Sussex launched the official IG account for American Riviera Orchard, and though there's no clues as to what it could be about, she gave a hint.
The account already has over 90K followers.
On the account's first Instagram Story, the 42-year-old duchess appears in a video set to Nancy Wilson's "I Wish You Love," picking fresh flowers and then standing in a kitchen cooking.
In the clip, Meghan doesn't speak or promote anything.
Keeping things cryptic, the Instagram account's description simply reads, "by Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex."
On the grid are nine posts that make up the brand's official logo -- which also serves as the icon.
The account links to americanriviera.com, which takes users to a site whose landing page is the same logo as IG, except the word "Montecito" is under it. The site also has a link that allows people to sign up for the mailing list.
There's currently a pending trademark application that has been filed for America Riviera Orchard. Goods and services are listed as cookbooks, homeware, coffee supplies, jellies, jams, marmalades, fruit preserves, and more.
This marks Meghan's first official return to social media since 2020 -- when she and Harry shut down their joint Instagram and Twitter accounts dedicated to their Sussex Royal brand after stepping away from their royal duties.
Meghan's last solo social media venture was in 2018, when she had her own personal Instagram and Twitter accounts. At the time, the Suits star also had a daily lifestyle blog called The Tig. Prior to her royal wedding, she shut down all three accounts and the website.
Meghan's announcement falls on the four-year anniversary of when she, Harry, their son Archie, and her mother, Doria Ragland, all flew from Vancouver Island to Los Angeles -- after making the decision to no longer serve as working royals.
The soft launch of American Riviera Orchard comes a month after the duchess announced that she inked a new deal with Lemonada Media podcast network, which will put the first season of her Archetypes podcast on all podcast platforms, and be the home for her latest, yet-to-be-announced media project.
"I'm proud to now be able to share that I am joining the brilliant team at Lemonada to continue my love of podcasting," Meghan said in a statement announcing the news. "Being able to support a female founded company with a roster of thought provoking and highly entertaining podcasts is a fantastic way to kick off 2024. Our plan to re-release Archetypes so that more people can now have access to it, as well as launching a dynamic new podcast are well in the works. I’m so eager to be able to share it soon, and am overjoyed to be joining the Lemonada family."
So far, no further details have yet to be revealed. At the time, Meghan and Harry also launched their revised Sussex.com and gave Archewell.org an update.
Meghan's latest announcement comes on the heels of her busy weekend in Texas. On Friday, she was one of the keynote speakers on the "Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen" discussion to kick off the 2024 SXSW Conference and Festival in Austin, Texas. The following day, Meghan and Harry visited the family of one of the Uvalde school shooting victims.
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