Can Meghan become the next Gwyneth Paltrow? Only if her products are equally bizarre

The Duchess of Sussex's lifestyle website will sell fancy goods at fancy prices. But is she really ready to compete with Goop's vagina candles?

You know what the world really needs? More luxury marmalade options. Luckily, the Duchess of Sussex has it covered. As you may have heard, Meghan is launching a new lifestyle brand called American Riviera Orchard (ARO). Details are still hush-hush, but the trademark applications cover everything from pet-related accessories and homeware to marmalade and jam. She is going to sell fancy things toaspirationally fancy people.

It was always likely that Meghan would move in this direction. She did, after all, run a lifestyle website called the Tig (described as a hub for the discerning palate"), which closed in 2017. Launching an aspirational brand is also the sort of thing every celebrity does these days. Reigning over the celebrity entrepreneur space, of course, is Gwyneth Paltrow. Her brand, Goop, is worth $250m (198m) despite (or possibly thanks to) the fact that it's a constant source of ridicule. Meghan is never going to be the next British queen, but maybe she thinks she has a shot at being the next Paltrow.