Given the Duchess of Sussex’s big launch of her new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, I thought we should discuss this curiously on-target piece from Page Six, which was published a couple of weeks ago. My first reaction to it was “this will never happen,” but as it turns out, Page Six might actually have some sources after all! Page Six’s sources have said for months now: Lifestyle Queen Meghan is coming, just you wait! Some highlights:
The Nu Ina Garten: Meghan Markle will use the final year of her current Netflix contract to “take on” America’s most famous lifestyle queens — like Ina Garten, Martha Stewart or Joanna Gaines, sources say.
The Netflix contract: The contract Markle and Prince Harry signed with the streamer back in 2020 runs until the end of 2025, but multiple insiders told Page Six they don’t expect either side will want to renew the deal. Sources say Harry and Meghan’s Netflix deal won’t be renewed when the contract ends next year — and that Meghan is trying to position herself as a lifestyle entrepreneur à la Joanna Gaines or Gwyneth Paltrow. Hollywood insiders now expect Markle to work on a Netflix project close to her heart: something in the same realm as her former lifestyle blog, The Tig.
Ah, an industry insider! “From what I understand, I think Meghan will take on Martha Stewart, Gwyneth Paltrow and Ina Garten and play them at their own game,” said one industry insider. She is getting advice from powerful friends like Claire Waight Keller, the former Givenchy designer who created her wedding dress and with whom she had lunched Thursday at Beverly Hill power spot Ciccone, and who just signed a big deal with Uniqlo and Victoria Jackson, a QVC star and makeup entrepreneur.
The ‘Together’ cookbook publishers pitched a cooking show: In 2018, while still a working member of the royal family, she launched a cookbook to raise funds for the victims of the tragic Grenfell blaze in London. We’re told that the publishers of the “Together/Grenfell” cookbook had also pitched a cooking series — along the lines of the power of food bringing communities together — with Markle.
Meghan would have be relatable: “This would not surprise me,” a Hollywood source said of Markle wanting her own lifestyle empire. But, the source added, “She would have to be relatable and natural, the way Drew Barrymore is, it can’t feel contrived or like she’s acting.”
Authenticity is key: “The reason Martha, Joanna and Gwynet have crushed it is because they’ve let viewers into their most private spaces and shared their biggest secrets,” said Rachel Richardson, a former SnapChat exec and writer of the Highly Flammable trends newsletter. “Authenticity is key in the lifestyle arena and those that succeed tend to be willing to share their whole lives. Think about it — what do we not know about Gwenyth Paltrow? In ‘Harry and Meghan’ [Netflix documentary] and the Oprah interview, Megan let cameras capture some aspects of her private life. But to pull off a successful lifestyle show she’ll have to be prepared to swing the door all the way open.”
I’ve always said that Meghan should move into the cooking/celebrity-food arena, have a cooking show and put out cookbooks. Yes, she’s not a trained chef but “celebrity cooks” are a thing and it’s a lucrative business if a person works on camera, and Meghan is one of the most photogenic and watchable people I’ve ever seen in my life. I actually think Page Six was really on to something now – is a Netflix cooking show happening? A cookbook is surely happening! I’m so happy!
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Archewell.