An award-winning marmalade maker has revealed everything Meghan Markle is doing wrong with her new jam.
The Duchess of Sussex has revealed the first product to be sold under her new business venture, American Riviera Orchard. She has launched a strawberry jam and sent jars to 50 influencers to taste test.
The brand new product, in a glass jar with a fabric lid and fastened with a bow, features a label that says Montecito, where Meghan and Prince Harry live in California, and a handwritten number between one and 50.
Lucy Deedes, who has won awards for her marmalade, is sharing some of her tips with the Duchess after noticing some errors.
She said in an open letter to Meghan Markle: “I don’t want to hurt your feelings because this is an exciting new enterprise for you, but those frilly maids’ caps on jars are a bit twee and seventies.
“The august judges at the World Marmalade Awards in Dalemain, Cumbria, very much frown on frilly hats and nobody argues with them.
“One burning question for you: where will you find all these people in California who eat strawberry jam? I thought you were as likely to find anyone in LA with a loaf of bread in the house as you were to find them eating deep-fried Mars bars or smoking a Silk Cut.
“Again, I don’t want to put you off. I’m sure your jam will fly off the shelves, but if you do happen to see, months down the road, an old uneaten jar in someone’s fridge, just think of it as character-building and rise above it.
“Because we have so much in common, I’m happy to share a precious trade secret with you, which is that I add a few sprigs of rosemary when the jam is boiling. They’ll like that in LA.
“Tie it in muslin while the jam boils so that you can easily take it out afterwards. Nobody wants rosemary stuck in their expensive veneers.”
The Duchess of Sussex unveiled her new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, in March. The trademark for the brand, filed in February, mentions decanters, kitchen linens, pet accessories, table card holders, nut butters, spreads, preserves, and jellies.
Royal experts have pointed out that this launch is not that peculiar for a member of the Royal Family. The King launched his Duchy Originals brand in 1990 as a passion project.
It championed his belief in organic farming practices, with milk used from cows fed an organic diet and eggs from chickens given ample space to roam and forage.
At the time he was mocked for his views but the brand was snapped up as a Waitrose exclusive just two years later and now it has raised over £30million for The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund.
