Meghan Markle has been warned that her “tough outlook” and “absolute self-belief” could be stumbling blocks for the success of her new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard.
A Royal commentator and writer has claimed that the Duchess of Sussex is finding it a struggle to recruit staff for her latest business endeavour. Meghan made a low-key launch of her new venture earlier in March, with an Instagram account suddenly appearing to introduce American Riviera Orchard to followers.
The initial tease of the brand came through a short video clip on an Instagram story, followed by a nine-part grid post revealing the company’s logo.
Despite an initial buzz created by sending out 50 jars of homemade strawberry jam to an exclusive list of A-list friends, it appears the brand has encountered difficulties. Royal biographer Tom Quinn has indicated that Meghan’s strong personality traits are making it particularly “really difficult” for her to manage a team effectively.
Mr Quinn said: “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. Meghan has absolute self-belief…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.”
In conversation with the Mirror, Mr Quinn disclosed that Meghan desires her staff to be “full of their own ideas” yet also “compliant to her wishes”.
“One of Meghan’s biggest problems when she resided at Kensington Palace,” Mr Quinn added, “was that she believes that staff should 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.”
Details regarding the official launch of American Riviera Orchard remain uncertain, with the brand’s website currently only displaying its logo and providing an option to join a waitlist. The Duchess has already distributed strawberry jam from her brand to 50 influencers and celebrities, including Kris Jenner, however there seems to be a pause in the brand’s activity recently.
