All eyes have been on Kate Middleton lately, and it looks like her estranged sister-in-law, Meghan Markle, might be feeling a bit jealous about that. After spending almost six months without making any public appearances, Middleton was the talk of the town when she arrived on June 15, 2024, at the Trooping the Colour celebration.
Just a couple of months earlier, Middleton released a statement explaining that she was completing chemotherapy treatments after being diagnosed with cancer.
As a result, she’s been absent from her usual duties, which have drawn a significant amount of attention from both the media and the public. Whether the timing is coincidental or not, a recent update from Meghan Markle’s lifestyle brand signals her readiness to deflect attention from Kate.
On June 14, the evening prior to the Trooping the Colour parade, the general public learned a major update about Markle’s brand, American Riviera Orchard. Model and polo player Nacho Figueras, a friend of Meghan and Harry, filmed an Instagram story to reveal the latest American Riviera Orchard product release: a new raspberry jam.
At the same time, he shared an image of a dog sitting beside a glass jar filled with dog treats, with similar packaging to American Riviera Orchard jam jars, nodding to the fact that dog biscuits will also be part of the brand’s newest expansion of its product line.
It’s worth noting that the Sussexes did not attend the Trooping the Colour parade, and given the timing of the new product drop, it may be a strategic move to bring some attention back to Meghan and her hubby, Harry.
Kate’s illness isn’t the cause of the family feud
American Riviera Orchard’s initial premiere in March 2024 was also a questionable matter of timing, as this was around the same time that Kate’s health rumors started to develop and dominate front-page headlines all over the globe. This was the same time that King Charles III removed Meghan and Harry’s biographies from the royal family website.
Now that Kate has commanded attention once again, it looks like Markle is fed up and attempting to get more attention (and adoration) back for her and her family’s brand. This seems like a complicated chess game, and you never know who will move next!
Although Meghan and Kate Middleton are technically sisters-in-law, the relationship between these family members has been quite icy over the years, with well-documented proof to back it up. Things have only gotten worse since the Sussexes left the royal family, eliminating any association. Not to mention that Prince Harry has experienced a similar estrangement from his brother William, Prince of Wales.
The dynamics of this family are incredibly complicated, but are the difficulties too much to work through? “The King” author Christopher Andersen recently spoke to Fox News in May 2024, saying that “Harry would love to reconnect with Kate” and that the two had a close bond before all the drama, adding that “Harry was hit hard by the news of her cancer diagnosis.”
However, Anderson also mentioned that William is refusing to allow his brother to see Kate, even amidst her potential life-threatening diagnosis. Although some people thought that Kate’s illness would put an end to the bad blood, it looks like that hasn’t happened yet.