It’s been a week full of royal news, but this mic drop moment officially takes the cake. Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, has officially re-joined Instagram with the launch of her brand-new lifestyle site, American Riviera Orchard.
The “will she, won’t she” debate over whether or not Meghan would return to her Tig roots has surged for years following her official departure as a senior working member of the royal family in March 2020.
The name of her new lifestyle site seems to be a nod to Santa Barbara, which has long been referenced as the “American Riviera,” according to Travel & Leisure, who says the name was bestowed on the area because of “its temperate climate and lush landscapes, as well as its robust food and wine culture.” It also happens to be the area of California where she, Prince Harry and their two kids, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, now live. (The logo does include Montecito, too.)
Accompanying the Instagram launch is a reel posted to Instagram Stories that has a Nancy Meyers-like flair: Meghan herself is pictured cooking in a kitchen and—while the video is grainy and small—it also appears to show the Duchess all dressed up in a black gown with what is likely somewhere fabulous to go.
As for the site’s contents, currently there’s a prompt on the site to join the waitlist, which advertises the opportunity to be the first in the know about products, availability and updates from American Riviera Orchard. Sound familiar? The wording feels reminiscent of Meghan’s years spent running her own lifestyle blog, the Tig. (Meghan ran the site—named after her favorite full-bodied red wine Tignanello—from 2014 to 2017, when she shut it down ahead of her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018.)
The launch date is also thought to be meaningful: Four years ago today—March 14, 2020—Meghan and Harry famously left Canada on what they dubbed their “freedom flight” to Los Angeles in their Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan. Was the debut designed to intentionally coincide with that anniversary? Perhaps.
More questions: Will American Riviera Orchard be the Tig 2.0? Will Meghan be sending regular dispatches to our inbox? Giving Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop a run for its money? No matter what, we can’t wait to find out.
