Has royal drama been unleashed between Meghan Markle and Buckingham Palace? Just days after Meghan debuted the first food product from her American Riviera Orchard brand business line, the palace posted a video of their own line of strawberry preserves. Here are the details.
Buckingham Palace has been selling jam and other products for many years
According to The Daily Mail, Buckingham Palace has been selling jams and other products for many years. King Charles began selling products from the Duchy of Cornwall estate in the 1990s. The jam started in 2019, with jam added to the product lineup in 2010.
Strawberry orange jams and marmalades are available on the Buckingham Palace Shop website, as are different types of honey.
On April 24, the shop added a video to its Instagram feed showing different ways to use its strawberry preserves. The shop suggests using the fruit spread on scones, crumpets, croissants, or toast.
However, the post’s comments suggest that the palace is throwing shade at Meghan Markle’s latest business venture, jam, as part of her American Riviera Orchard lifestyle brand. The post dropped less than a week after Meghan launched her version of the sweet spread.
Buckingham Palace has not stated if the social media post is a subtle dig toward Meghan Markle’s product launch or if it is trying to piggyback on it by reminding royal fans that they, too, sell this type of product.
Meghan Markle’s Jam and business have not yet officially launched
Although it appears there is a war of the jams brewing between Meghan Markle and Buckingham Palace, that appears not to be the case. In fact, of the two, only Buckingham Palace’s jam is currently available for purchase.
Meghan has begun packaging her jam, but it appeared to be for a soft launch. The product has yet to be available on her American Riviera Orchard website.
However, she gave the fruit to 50 of her celebrity friends. Several famous faces, including Kris Jenner, Mindy Kaling, and Chrissy Teigen, received one of 50 limited-edition jars.
Tatler reports Meghan’s jam features a gold American Riviera Orchard logo on a label. Each label was numbered and delivered in a ceramic bowl decorated with lemons and white flowers with the addition of a letter personally written by the Duchess of Sussex. It has yet to be determined when Meghan will release her jams or other products from her line in a general sale.
Profits from the sales of both jams go to different entities
The Buckingham Palace Shop is run by the Royal Collection Trust. Profits from purchases made online and in the stores are used to maintain the Royal Collection, which features over a million objects of fine and decorative arts.
The Royal Collection is administered by The Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity. King Charles does not personally own the Royal Collection. However, the website claims he holds it in trust “as Sovereign “for his successors and the nation.
In contrast, profits from sales made by Meghan Markle’s American Riviera Orchard brand go to the Duchess of Sussex. Meghan and Harry are independent of the royal family and have been since March 2020, when they left their roles as senior royals.
