A royal expert believes Meghan Markle is "exploiting her status" with her new lifestyle brand.
In a post shared to the brand’s Instagram Story, a video showed the 42-year-old duchess picking flowers and cooking in a kitchen with “I Wish You Love” by Nancy Wilson playing in the background.
The Duchess has been criticised for launching the brand just hours before William and Harry were due to speak at the Diana Legacy Award event in London.
Speaking to GB News, royal commentator Michael Cole said: "Let's call this what it is, it is home shopping, wearing a royal coronet. When the late Queen was alive, any member of the family seeking to exploit their royal status for monetary gain was highly criticised.
Meghan has launched a new lifestyle brand called American Riviera OrchardReuters"Sophie the Duchess of Edinburgh had to give up her PR business, Peter Philips the son of Princess Anne gave up advertising milk in China and, laughably, when Prince Michael of Kent opened the Happy Eater on the A3 near Guildford they were laughed out of court.
"But this, of course, is being sold very much as Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex.
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"You will remember that when she became engaged to Prince Harry, she dropped her social influencing blog, which was called The Tig. Well, essentially this is a revival of it to sell products.
"American Riviera is a trademark that they're seeking to register. American Riviera is that part of the coastline in County Santa Barbara, where they live on the their Californian Camelot, on the hilltop at Montecito.
Michael Cole claimed they are "going out to make money out of their royal status."
GB News
" So they're out there flogging product,such as expensive jam and essential things like napkin rings.
"We all need plenty of those, don't we? So they're going out to make money out of their royal status."
According to a report from Page Six, Meghan’s American Riviera Orchard will focus on home, garden, food, and general lifestyle content.
The brand will also reportedly sell a variety of home goods, such as cookbooks, foods, and kitchenware.
She launched it at the same time as the Diana awards \
GettyThe Instagram post also marks Meghan’s return to social media after she deactivated her personal account upon joining the Royal Family.
Speaking to the Mail, royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams said he felt the timing of Meghan's launch was "no accident".
He said: "The Sussexes, in my opinion, do nothing by accident and timing is often absolutely pivotal.
"We found that out one way over the weekend and we've now just been reminded that there may be more shots in their locker than some of us thought. And it's no accident."
