Over the years, there have been conspiracy theories accusing Meghan Markle and Prince Harry of attempting to steal the show from royal events by issuing press releases, uploading photos, or leaking stories about themselves around the identical day that Prince William, Kate Middleton, or their other relatives attend those events.
On Saturday, Meghan gave recent impetus to the proponents of those theories. Early within the morning British time, about six hours before her cancer-stricken sister-in-law Kate Middleton was on account of make her eagerly awaited return to public life on the Trooping the Colour parade, Meghan apparently had certainly one of her celebrity friends announce two recent products from her fledgling lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard.
Nacho Figueras, the skilled polo player and shut friend of Harry, used his Instagram stories to share several pictures of a pot of raspberry jam and a jar of dog biscuits from the previous TV actor's American brand Riviera Orchard.
On Friday, the Princess of Wales made headlines all over the world when she released a private statement updating the general public on her health, three months after announcing that she had cancer. The Princess said on Instagram that she is making “good progress” along with her chemotherapy. But she also said that she is “not out of the woods yet,” her treatment is “not finished yet,” and she or he has “good days and bad days,” with the bad days making her feel “weak and tired.”
Kate's other big news was that she would attend the Trooping the Colour party on Saturday, the annual military parade in London to have fun King Charles III's birthday.
And Kate did make it to the parade and flypast on Saturday, giving the crowds in London and the hundreds of thousands of viewers at home an “emotional” moment as they saw her smiling as she rode in a glass carriage along with her three children. The Telegraph reported. The future queen also brought “star power” to the balcony of Buckingham Palace, where she met Prince William and Charles and other senior royals, The Telegraph added.
Meghan once enjoyed a seat on the balcony of Buckingham Palace until she and Harry decided to step down from royal duties in 2020, move to California and work to change into financially independent.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have tried, with mixed success, to change into media moguls, while Meghan is soft-launching luxury brand American Riviera Orchard, which goals to sell high-priced homewares to people seeking to emulate their Montecito lifestyle.
This spring, a few of Meghan’s other celebrity friends, including Kris Jenner and Chrissy Teigen, boasted on social media that they were among the many lucky ones to get a few of the 50 glasses in a limited edition strawberry jam from American Riviera Orchard.
A source before told People magazine that Meghan's recent project would “reflect everything she loves – family, cooking, entertaining and home decor.”
“Meghan thinks the name American Riviera Orchard is perfect,” the source said. The brand name refers to a reputation given to Montecito and the encircling Central California coast, where she and Harry now live. “It feels authentic to her,” the source said.
But critics of the Sussexes raised an uproar on Saturday over the timing of their polo-playing boyfriend's raspberry jam announcement, noting that she and Harry had kept a low profile in recent weeks following their spectacular visit to Nigeria in May. So it was odd, critics say, that Meghan decided to attempt to get recent publicity for herself and her jam on June 15 – the identical day that royal watchers' attention could be focused on the Trooping the Colour parade and, particularly, Kate's return.
Naturally, Meghan's fans are desirous to hear any news about her, saying they will't wait for American Riviera Orchard to open so that they can order a few of her jams and dog biscuits for themselves. Marketing experts may additionally say it was entrepreneurial of Meghan to extend awareness of her brand by promoting it on the identical day as Trooping the Colour.
However, critics called the move “petty,” “tasteless” and “desperate,” and said it was a moderately transparent try to steal attention from Kate and the opposite royals.
“Always the need to steal the show from the royal family is tiring and really quite pathetic,” said one person said in response to an article in People magazine in regards to the announcement of the raspberry jam.
“It was predicted that Meghan would try to attract some media attention while Catherine made her first public appearance. And everyone was right,” said one other person.
Reddit has cited further examples of Meghan and Harry attempting to divert attention from pre-planned events involving William, Kate, and even the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The most famous example, in accordance with critics, is when Meghan and Harry reportedly announced their first pregnancy at the marriage of Harry's cousin, Princess Eugenie, in October 2018, shortly before they began their royal tour of Australia and the South Pacific.
Then there was the situation in April 2021, when Meghan made a press release to the world mediashortly before Prince Philip's funeral, and announced that she had sent a wreath and a handwritten note to be displayed on the funeral. Her note “Angry royal feathers” by detailing the flowers, which she said she had rigorously chosen, and by offering an influencer-style promotion for the local florist involved, only without the social media tag.
Regarding Meghan's recent project, critics also complained that she didn’t launch the American Riviera Orchard website and Instagram account until March 14. On the identical day, William gave a speech in London to mark the twenty fifth anniversary of the Diana Award, which honors young leaders.
But on Saturday, even a few of Meghan's fans didn't consider it was a coincidence that her raspberry jam announcement got here hours before Trooping the Colour. Those fans said they were amazed by her bravery.
“I can't lie, Mother Sussex has raised the pettiness level with her raspberry jam. I love that woman!”, a self-proclaimed Meghan Markle fan wrote on X. “They played with her too, now she's playing with theirs! #meghanmarkle.”
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