As Ever

[2] Meghan filed for the patent for American Riviera Orchard in March 2024, followed by a soft launch of the company on social media channels the same month.

[4] In an op-ed for The Guardian, the columnist Arwa Mahdawi said the brand is likely Meghan's attempt to try to come back from what Rolling Stone called a "flop era" for the couple in mid-2023, a period of stagnation in their careers.

[5] The name American Riviera Orchard derives from a nickname for Santa Barbara, California, where Meghan and her husband Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex reside.

[9] In April 2024, an anonymous cybersquatter purchased the UK domain name for the brand and directed the URL to a JustGiving fundraiser for The Trussell Trust, a non-profit focusing on alleviating food insecurity.

[12] The Trust told The Independent that they "...are grateful to people who put their time and energy into supporting our work to end the need for food banks in the UK.

The commentator and royal reporter Kinsey Schofield said:"I do think that they're going to continue to have a hard time finding people that want to work underneath them.

Among them were the Argentine polo player Nacho Figueras; the actresses Tracee Ellis Ross, Abigail Spencer, Garcelle Beauvais, and Mindy Kaling; the media personality Kris Jenner; and the singer John Legend and his wife, the model Chrissy Teigen.

[29] Some news outlets and tabloids speculated American Riviera Orchard engaged in purposeful competition with Charles, with Marie Claire calling it "the battle of the strawberry jams" and OK!

[35][36] In October 2024, the journalist Tina Brown claimed that Meghan's unprofessionalism had impacted the brand's ability to release any product and called her ideas "total crap".