There have been conspiracy theories over the years that accuse Meghan Markle and Prince Harry of trying to “upstage” royal events by issuing press releases, dropping photos or leaking stories about themselves on or around the same day that Prince William, Kate Middleton or their other relatives are engaged in these events.
On Saturday, Meghan gave some fuel to proponents of these theories. Early in the morning U.K. time, about six hours before her cancer-stricken sister-in-law Kate Middleton was set to make her highly anticipated return to public duties at Trooping the Color, Meghan apparently had one of her celebrity friends announce two new products in her fledging American Riviera Orchard lifestyle brand.
Nacho Figueras, the professional polo player and close friend of Harry, used his Instagram Stories to share several images of a pot of raspberry jam and jar of dog biscuits from the former TV actor’s American Riviera Orchard brand.
On Friday, the Princess of Wales made global headlines by releasing a personal statement, giving the public an update on her health, three months after she announced she had cancer. The princess said on Instagram that she was making “good progress” with her chemotherapy. But she also said she’s “not out of the woods yet,” her treatment is “ongoing,” and she has “good days and bad days,” with the bad days leaving her feeling “weak, tired.”
Kate’s other big news was that she would attend Trooping the Color Saturday, the annual military parade in London that celebrates King Charles III’s birthday.
And, Kate indeed made it to the parade and fly-over Saturday. She created an “emotional” moment for people in the crowd in London, “and the millions watching at home,” when they saw her riding in a glass coach and smiling with her three children, The Telegraph reported. The future queen also brought “star power” to the balcony at Buckingham Palace, where she joined Prince William and Charles and the rest of the senior working royals, The Telegraph added.
Meghan once enjoyed a place on the balcony at Buckingham Palace, until she and Harry decided to step away from royal duties in 2020, move to California and work to become financially dependent.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have attempted to become media moguls, with mixed results, while Meghan has been soft launching American Riviera Orchard, a luxury brand that aims to sell high-priced home goods for people who aspire to her Montecito lifestyle.
This spring, some of Meghan’s other celebrity friends, including Kris Jenner and Chrissy Teigen, took to social media to boast that they had been among the lucky ones to receive some of the 50 jars in a limited batch of American Riviera Orchard strawberry jam.
A source previously told People magazine that Meghan’s new venture would “reflect everything that she loves — family, cooking, entertaining and home décor.”
“Meghan finds the name American Riviera Orchard perfect,” the source said, the brand title referring to a name given to Montecito and the surrounding central California coast where she and Harry now live. “It feels authentic to her,” the source said.
But critics of the Sussexes raised a fuss on Saturday about the timing of the raspberry jam announcement, via her polo-playing friend. They noted that she and Harry have kept a low-profile in recent weeks, following their splashy visit to Nigeria in May. So, critics say, it’s curious that Meghan decided to try and get some new publicity for herself and her jam on June 15 — the same day that the attention of royal watchers would be on Trooping the Color, particularly on Kate’s return.
Of course, Meghan’s fans are excited to get any news about her, and they say they can’t wait until American Riviera Orchard is up and running and they can order some of her jams and dog biscuits themselves. Marketing experts could also say it was enterprising of Meghan to boost awareness of her brand by advertising it on the same day as Trooping the Color.
But critics called the move “petty,” “tacky” and “desperate,” saying it was a pretty transparent attempt to steal the limelight from Kate and the other royals.
“Always the need to try to upstage the royal family, it’s tiring and really quite pitiable,” one person said in response to a People magazine X post about the raspberry jam announcement.
“It was predicted that Meghan would try and get some media attention at the same time as Catherine made her first public appearance. And everyone was right,” another person said.
On Reddit, people offered other examples of Meghan and Harry trying to take attention away from scheduled-in-advance events involving William, Kate or even the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The most famous example, according to critics, is when Meghan and Harry reportedly announced her first pregnancy at the October 2018 wedding of Harry’s cousin, Princess Eugenie, just before they began their royal tour to Australia and the South Pacific.
Then there was the situation in April 2021, when Meghan issued a statement to the global media, right before Prince Philip’s funeral, announcing that she had sent a wreath and handwritten note to be displayed at the service. Her note “ruffled royal feathers” by detailing the flowers she said she carefully picked out and by offering an influencer-type promotion for the local florist involved, minus the social media tag.
With regard to Meghan’s new venture, critics also complained that she first launched the website and Instagram account for American Riviera Orchard on March 14. That’s the same day that William spoke in London to honor the 25th anniversary of the Diana Award, which honors young leaders.
But on Saturday, even some of Meghan’s fans didn’t think it was a coincidence that her raspberry jam announcement came hours ahead of Trooping the Color. These fans said they loved her gumption.
“I can’t lie mother Sussex has amped up the petty level with her raspberry jam I love that woman!” a self-described Meghan Markle fan wrote on X. “They played with her too now she’s playing with theirs! #meghanmarkle.”