Last week, the Duchess of Sussex launched her American Riviera Orchard Instagram account. As of yet, we’ve only seen the tile logo and a very short video previewing Meghan cooking something and standing around in a ballgown. While that wasn’t a lot to go on, there have been a wealth of stories about what American Riviera Orchard will be and what it will sell, and it feels safe to say that Meghan will likely have a cooking/food-centric show, plus cookbooks and a lifestyle/homeware brand. In the past week, we’ve also learned that Prince Harry was on a ski vacation with Corey Gamble, better known as Kris Jenner’s boyfriend of many years. Put those two stories together and you’ve got Richard Eden’s latest Mail column:
With King Charles undergoing treatment for an unspecified form of cancer, and the Princess of Wales still convalescing after abdominal surgery, half of the Royal Family’s most senior members are out of action. So what better time for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to launch the latest stage of their apparent plan to become the new, more glamorous Royal Family across the pond?
In a slick Instagram video, Meghan unveiled her new lifestyle and cookery brand, American Riviera Orchard. The former actress could be seen busying herself in a rustic-looking kitchen in the video, which was posted online a day after I contacted her office for comment on her plans. American Riviera Orchard will focus on home, garden, food and lifestyle wares.
Meghan and her team decided to post the video even though the coverage it would generate was likely to overshadow an important appearance Prince Harry was making the same evening. Via video link from the US, he spoke at an awards ceremony for the Diana Trust, a cherished charity that works to promote the legacy of his late mother. Prince William attended the event in person, although he made a point of leaving before his brother’s face appeared on a video screen.
While American Riviera Orchard is very much Meghan’s venture, Harry will, I’m told, join his wife for a string of ‘regal’ public appearances over the coming days and weeks.
But as the duchess was seen arranging flowers in her promotional video, and whisking up something in a mixing bowl, Harry was stirring up trouble with an intriguing new friend. I revealed in my social diary, Eden Confidential, on Saturday that the duke, 39, enjoyed a skiing holiday last week with Corey Gamble, 43, a business executive who just happens to be the partner of Kris Jenner, the 68-year-old mother of reality US television royalty, Kim, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian. She also has two daughters, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, who have become super-rich stars with the help of their mother as manager, or ‘momanger’, as she’s known.
On the slopes with Harry and Corey in Aspen, America’s swankiest ski resort, were other chums including Whitney Wolfe Herd, 34, who became the youngest female billionaire in the world when she took her online dating company, Bumble, public in 2021, and Whitney’s husband, Michael, whom she first met on a skiing trip to the resort. Michael Herd, a Texan oil heir, owns the private jet on which Harry and Meghan flew to Las Vegas last November to watch their California neighbour, the pop star Katy Perry, perform in concert.
Harry’s hitherto unknown friendship with Kris Jenner’s boyfriend is fascinating. Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, is known to be pals with Jenner. I’m told that Harry and Gamble have ‘really hit it off’. They can certainly compare notes on having ambitious other halves.
There’s no there there. Meghan has a lifestyle brand, Harry vacationed with Kris Jenner’s boyfriend. What’s the gossip beyond that? Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there’s a backstory, especially with the Corey Gamble stuff, but I don’t know what it is and neither does Richard Eden. It’s also notable that instead of being grateful that the Sussexes’ activities are a convenient distraction to Kensington Palace’s sh-tshow, Eden seems mad that the Sussexes are effortlessly overshadowing the meager “royal work” on offer in the UK. If history is any indication, the second Harry and/or Meghan step out and make some big announcements, suddenly William and Kate will both be desperate to be seen and heard from.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Backgrid.