The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Family, News and Events 9: August 2023 -

I think that it is a good thing that Meghan is re-entering the lifestyle blogging space. I am not crazy about the name, it sounds word salad-y.

HRHHermione said:

Good luck to her. It certainly isn’t without precedent as a commercial path for non-working royals. A bit reminiscent of the Duchess of York’s time promoting Wedgwood China, which I believe was fairly successful for her at the time.

Click to expand...

Like you I wish her well with this project.

It’s sounds interesting and I wish Meghan heaps of luck with all her new endeavours.

soapstar said:

According to the Daily Mail, Meghan will have a cooking show on Netflix. She’ll also be selling her own food.



So she’s basically modeling her brand off of Martha Stewart.

Click to expand...

Kind of sounds that way. There’s a lot of this out there already. But we’ll see how it goes.

Congratulations to HRH The Duchess of Sussex on her new endeavors. Personally, I've always thought that she and HRH The Duke of Sussex should have focused more on securing their own bag than philanthropic projects, but I know how much the latter is important to them.

Erin9 said:

Kind of sounds that way. There’s a lot of this out there already. But we’ll see how it goes.

Click to expand...

I think it’s going to be challenging. If I were approaching this as a business case and I was trying to give advice as a consultant, there are several issues I’d highlight.

The first is price. Meghan has often positioned her brand as a luxury brand, but it’s very rare for celebrity endorsed products to be viewed as truly luxurious and priced as such. I can think of limited exceptions, like Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s fashion brand, The Row, but they had so much capital behind them by the time they launched it and it was after they had years of experience in the fashion industry. It also started quite small- it wasn’t a make or break defining project. I would be surprised if Meghan’s brand can support a luxury product price strategy, and I think a more mid-range approach similar to Martha Stewart, Rachel Ray, or Joanna Gaines would be more likely to turn a profit.

Which brings me to my next concern- the supply chain. Modern manufacturing has so many sustainability and human rights challenges, almost across the board. This is especially true for lower priced goods. Most companies do not have the scrutiny on them that Meghan will have, and that’s going to mean some tough choices about where any goods sold under her label are manufactured and what that process looks like for environmental impact and worker’s rights.

Finally, most brands that succeed in the cooking/home goods space are carefully uncontroversial and accessible to many different consumer demographics. That may be harder to create for Meghan after years of a fairly polarizing public presence.

I think she is right to try this. I don’t think it’s impossible for it to go well. I do think there are more ways for it to go wrong than there are for it to go well.

Honestly? It feels like she doesn't know who she is or what she wants to do. It seems like she's throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks. Do we need another celebrity cooking show or cookware line? Yes, she's a celebrity, whether she may use that word to describe herself or not.

Sister Morphine said:

Honestly? It feels like she doesn't know who she is or what she wants to do. It seems like she's throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks. Do we need another celebrity cooking show or cookware line? Yes, she's a celebrity, whether she may use that word to describe herself or not.

Click to expand...

I think that’s been true for a long time and it’s a genuine shame. I was trying to think earlier of what companies have a strategy that I could see being successful for Meghan, and they are all niche brands but strong ones with clear messaging.

There are a few companies like Princess Awesome (comfortable clothes for kids with STEM inspired prints) or A Mighty Girl which aggregates other brands to promote stories of powerful women and brands that promote girls to feel comfortable and happy with themselves and I’ve always thought something like that would suit her, if she was willing to take a risk and have a sense of humor about herself and be willing to maybe be laughed at a little.

The beige luxury aesthetic is only ever going to work for a limited number of people and it can be accessed with more cache elsewhere. She needs to know who she is and what she loves and be willing to share that if she wants a successful commercial brand.

Good luck to her.

I follow a bunch of TV chefs. Lidia, Martha, The Test Kitchen, Jacques Pepin, Stanley Tucci, it is all very enjoyable viewing. I wish her the success they have had.

Sister Morphine said:

Honestly? It feels like she doesn't know who she is or what she wants to do. It seems like she's throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks. Do we need another celebrity cooking show or cookware line? Yes, she's a celebrity, whether she may use that word to describe herself or not.

Click to expand...

How? It literally has the same vibe as The Tig. It doesn't look at all off for her. This has been reported about for a very long time, that she would be likely doing this. Her first singular thing she did as a royal was a cookbook. This seems to speak very much to who she is.

I couldn't help smile at the timing of the brand reveal. Perfectly timed to compete with William at the Diana Awards. Meghan's (& Harry's) attempts to steal the limelight get more desperate as time goes by, IMO!

I thought it was unfortunate timing. Instead of a fresh new focus, it only magnifies the negativity surrounding them. If only they could see that.

ETA: Before I get flamed, I think its a great idea for Meghan to try this avenue. I just wish she could leave off the one-upmanship and stand on her own two feet. It cannot be denied that the timing, as has happened so many other times, will be seen as deliberate. Why not prove the naysayers wrong by launching their new projects independently of any other events happening over the pond? This is one event that Harry would have been absolutely certain of knowing about and a clash could so easily have been avoided. Now they are copping criticism again.

Bad timing to say the least. Or is it ?

muriel said:

I couldn't help smile at the timing of the brand reveal. Perfectly timed to compete with William at the Diana Awards. Meghan's (& Harry's) attempts to steal the limelight get more desperate as time goes by, IMO!

Click to expand...

Totally agree. At this point it's world class trolling. We know it, they know it and they are perfectly fine with that.

HenRach Dominion said:

I love how TRH The Sussexes still maintain their relationships with members of the Uvalde community (I believe last year or so was when HRH The Duchess of Sussex brought food for many of the victims' families). I especially love, however, how much their visits seem to brighten the spirits of the victims' families, and with such a massive tragedy and inexcusable failure that was Uvalde, the small happiness is 200% deserved.

Click to expand...

They are not TRH or HRH.

Erin9 said:

Kind of sounds that way. There’s a lot of this out there already. But we’ll see how it goes.

Click to expand...

She is obviously entitled to pursue whatever commercial venture she wants (lifestyle blogging, podcasting, TV/movie production company, acting, etc.). It still bothers me though that she uses "Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex" as her commercial brand name. It doesn't make sense to do it in America, where her title is not legally recognized, and reinforces the perception that she joined the British Royal Family with an eye to later profiting from an association with a royal brand.

I'm glad Meghan is doing something where she's been known to do well. I hope they're starting small and adjust accordingly, since competition in the celebrity sphere is pretty stiff. There's Gwyneth's line, Kourtney Kardashian's, there's also Chrissy Teigen's cookware and food stuff--seems Gwyneth's is most successful but she started way ahead and had a clear brand from the start.

The thing I find funny though is the look and the name, it feels very 90s. The "By Meghan, Duchess of Sussex" means that at this point, she'll hold on to that title forever and will always be part of her brand. Her penchant for grandiose brand names and elaborate calligraphy has always reminded me of when I was a kid and obsessed with having a company and would scribble what I felt were grand company names and imagine them on nice stationery. It didn't matter what they were about, the name and the vibe came first.

Asteria12 said:

I thought it was unfortunate timing. Instead of a fresh new focus, it only magnifies the negativity surrounding them. If only they could see that.

Click to expand...

muriel said:

I couldn't help smile at the timing of the brand reveal. Perfectly timed to compete with William at the Diana Awards. Meghan's (& Harry's) attempts to steal the limelight get more desperate as time goes by, IMO!

Click to expand...

It was quite deliberate, utterly pathetic and totally predictable.

Sister Morphine said:

Honestly? It feels like she doesn't know who she is or what she wants to do. It seems like she's throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks. Do we need another celebrity cooking show or cookware line? Yes, she's a celebrity, whether she may use that word to describe herself or not.

Click to expand...

THIS sums it up beautifully. I doubt very much she has any genuine interest in jam, or napkins, of whatever else she's trying to flog. There's genuinely no passion there - the South Park parody of the empty vessel was spot on. It's just another attempt to get money, fame and attention and it's getting more and more desperate.

Brooklyn Beckham Mk 2 (there's something I never thought I'd write!) sort of crossed with the Range and Trago Mills

The presentation of the new venture looks beige, wishy-washy and half-assed. I've previously designed a successful website and my late husband, who was a graphic designer, would have been rolling on the floor laughing at this. The supposed calligraphy looks tacky, the logo is a tangled mess and the name is far too long and clumsy; a one word name a la "Goop" would have been far better. I suspect MM hasn't been listening to advice again

Someone talked about hatred upthread. I think it's important to state that I don't hate H&M; but I despise them for the way they have treated the BRF, the UK and the UK people. Therefore I am going to stick my neck out and say that I don't wish her well with this new venture. Why should I? There are so many other people out there far more deserving of my good wishes! But I don't wish her ill either. I wish her absolutely nothing. The venture, if it fails, will fail because of her own vanity, laziness, and stupidity, and because she's already alienated a great deal of her target client base.

I realise this post won't be everyone's cup of tea and you are welcome to respectfully disagree or ignore as you see fit, but please note that I will not respond to any personal or provocative comments like the ones I have previously received, and I will ignore any attempts to engage in tit for tat.

It's just my honest opinion, as always.

Nico said:

Bad timing to say the least. Or is it ?

Click to expand...

Happens too frequently to be coincidental.
Well, maybe some of this will work out, we'll have to see.

Wishing her the best. I think it is a good venture for her. Just not sure about the name. Seems a bit long. Agree about the perfect timing especially for KP.

Just another VERY predictable, spiteful and tacky move regarding the announcement "timing", by Meghan to steal William's thunder at The Diana Legacy Awards.

She can't seem to help herself. It is snide moves like this obvious one, that are so off putting.

I was also curious and waiting to see if The Sussex's would be invited to Elton John's prestigious and glamorous A- lister post Oscar Party. Not only a Party, but raises big bucks for his Aids Foundation.
But apparently not invited. Again.
It is these types of cheap tricks that backfire on them. How they don't see that is baffling.

Oh, of all the things that have happened to the BRF this week, I'm sure it's not HRH The Duchess of Sussex's line announcement that has overshadowed HRH The Prince of Wales at the Diana awards.

MonacoRoyalFan said:

How? It literally has the same vibe as The Tig. It doesn't look at all off for her. This has been reported about for a very long time, that she would be likely doing this. Her first singular thing she did as a royal was a cookbook. This seems to speak very much to who she is.

Click to expand...

It’s very obvious that this is Plan B imo.

Plan A has mostly been a fail, unless they were profiting off complaining about their family. The results 4 years later can not be what they envisioned based on their own words.

So- I would agree- they’ve just been throwing things against the wall trying to get something to work. Now- Meghan is circling back to what she was doing small scale before anyone knew who she was. Because nothing else has been truly successful.

There are already a lot of celebrities doing exactly what she’s trying to do- except their careers have been far more successful, they’ve had much more talent, and they’re way less controversial than she is.

Her launch day was typical Meghan, and will do nothing positive for her. Apparently, she just can’t help herself. It’s not a good look, but it is expected.

HenRach Dominion said:

Oh, of all the things that have happened to the BRF this week, I'm sure it's not HRH The Duchess of Sussex's line announcement that has overshadowed HRH The Prince of Wales at the Diana awards.

Click to expand...

The point isn’t whether it actually overshadowed anything. It’s about Meghan and her need to publicly do things at the same time as her in- laws. It’s a bad look.

Mbruno said:

She is obviously entitled to pursue whatever commercial venture she wants (lifestyle blogging, podcasting, TV/movie production company, acting, etc.). It still bothers me though that she uses "Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex" as her commercial brand name. It doesn't make sense to do it in America, where her title is not legally recognized, and reinforces the perception that she joined the British Royal Family with an eye to later profiting from an association with a royal brand.

Click to expand...

It’s all she has. I get why she uses it. She’s known for marrying into the BRF. She has nothing else that sets her apart.

It wouldn’t surprise me if she was always eying using her title for money making purposes.

Erin9 said:

It’s all she has. I get why she uses it. She’s known for marrying into the BRF. She has nothing else that sets her apart.

It wouldn’t surprise me if she was always eying using her title for money making purposes.

Click to expand...

Oh, I'm convinced of it! IMO that was the plan right from the start.

soapstar said:

According to the Daily Mail, Meghan will have a cooking show on Netflix. She’ll also be selling her own food.



So she’s basically modeling her brand off of Martha Stewart.

Click to expand...

I don't think Martha has anything to worry about. As someone said in an earlier post, she's all over the place. And using her title to boot which she and Harry agreed not to do to make money.

They need the money for their expensive lifestyle. I wonder what kind of income Harry has?

Nico said:

Totally agree. At this point it's world class trolling. We know it, they know it and they are perfectly fine with that.

Click to expand...

And certainly undercuts her speech in TX last week, doesn't it?

HenRach Dominion said:

Oh, of all the things that have happened to the BRF this week, I'm sure it's not HRH The Duchess of Sussex's line announcement that has overshadowed HRH The Prince of Wales at the Diana awards.

Click to expand...

It's gotten no front pages over there, just small column inches. It has overshadowed nothing.,