Meghan Markle’s new Instagram account has attracted thousands of followers, including some famous names.
After launching on Thursday, the Duchess of Sussex’s new social media page for the American Riviera Orchard brand, already verified with a blue tick, has amassed over 375,000 followers in less than 24 hours. Kris Jenner, Abigail Spencer and Mindy Kaling are some of the stars linked to Meghan who have followed the page.
Jenner and Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, bonded in August 2023 at the This Is About Humanity 5th Anniversary Dinner in Los Angeles, where they posed for a photo with Jenner’s daughter Kim Kardashian.
Meanwhile, Spencer has been friends with Meghan, 42, since they starred together Suits and he recently praised her on The Kelly Clarkson Show as an “amazing person” referring to their friendship.
Kaling joined the Duchess of Sussex on her podcast Archetypes in September 2022 for a talk titled “The Single Stigma,” where they dissected the sexist definitions of “spinster” and “old maid,” plus the gendered pressure on women to marry.
Kris Jenner, Doria Ragland and Kim Kardashian at the TIAH 5th Anniversary Dinner on August 26, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.
Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for this is about humanity
What will Meghan Markle’s new brand sell? Inside the trademark for American Riviera Orchard
Other American Riviera Orchard followers now include model Elle Macpherson, friend and designer Misha Nonoo, former Archewell Foundation President Mandana Dayani, and friend and photographer Misan Harriman.
Meghan’s friends Heather Dorak and Kelly McKee Zajfen, with whom she was seen skiing in late February, also followed and celebrated the new account. Dorak, founder of Pilates Platinum, and McKee Zajfen, co-founder of Alliance of Moms, both celebrated the venture’s launch day with messages on their Instagram stories.
“I’m so proud of my dear friend!!” Dorak wrote with a heart-shaped emoticon and marked the new handle.
“Couldn’t be more proud of you and what’s to come. Follow us!!!! @americanorchard. Love you M,” McKee Zajfen said using the Duchess of Sussex’s nickname.
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Kelly McKee Zajfen’s Instagram Story on March 15.
Kelly McKee Zaifen/instagram
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American Riviera Orchard appears to be a lifestyle brand with an application to sell homewares, cookbooks, jams and more. It debuted a coordinating website and Instagram profile on Thursday, and Meghan appeared in the first Instagram Story through a short film, arranging flowers and cooking in the kitchen to the tune of Nancy Wilson’s “I Wish You Love.”
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Meghan Markle appears in an Instagram video for American Riviera Orchard posted on March 14.
American Riviera Orchard/Instagram
Meghan Markle is back on Instagram! The Duchess of Sussex is launching a surprise new venture
The new brand could mark a return to Meghan’s roots, as she started and ran lifestyle blog The Tig before she started dating and later married Prince Harry. Although she shut down the site (and her 3 million-follower Instagram page) after getting engaged to the royal family in 2017, Meghan opened up about her passion for Tig in the 2022 Netflix docuseries. Harry & Meghan.
“I’ve never been the type of person to do just one thing. I guess that’s how my website was born,” the Duchess of Sussex said in the series. “There was fashion, there was tons of food and travel, so those were all things that I loved. And The Tig wasn’t just a hobby. It became a really successful business.”
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Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistlers 2025 One Year Winter Training Camp on February 15, 2024 in Whistler, British Columbia.
Andrew Chin/Getty
The surprise launch of American Riviera Orchard is significant as Meghan officially returns to social media for the first time in four years, as she and her husband last updated their Instagram page @SussexRoyal in 2020 after stepping back as working royals.
American Riviera Orchard also arrived on the fourth anniversary of what Prince Harry described as the family’s “freedom flight” from Canada to Los Angeles.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education