This week, King Charles III must have gotten a chuckle or two after it became breaking news that Meghan Markle made jam.
Indeed the former actress, who recently launched her American Riviera Orchard lifestyle brand, more or less launched her first product. To promote the company, Markle sent out 50 jars of strawberry jam to her friends and influencers.
The delicious and sweet spreading arrived at each person’s home in a bowl surrounded by bright yellow lemons. The story went viral and backers of the Royal Family decided to jump into what seemed to be a jam war.
King Charles, the shrewd businessman has been selling jams and other delicacies for the past two decades. The Daily Mail explains: “His Majesty began selling products such as jam from the Duchy of Cornwall estate in the 1990s and has continued to sell produce from the gardens of his own private home in Highgrove.”
The launch of Markle’s sweet and juicy jam from California has pushed royalists to buy King Charles’s British jam by the dozens. The major sales boost caused His Majesty’s Highgrove Organic Strawberry Preserve to be sold out.
The Daily Mail writer Richard Eden revealed: “And with the renewed publicity on The Duchess of Sussex’s preserves, Charles’s own brand appears to have seen a jump in sales from royalists, who have done so in such great numbers that one item sold out.”
He had more succulent details about the jelly: “The Monarch’s Highgrove Organic Strawberry Preserve was shown as being ‘sold out’ on the estate’s website on Wednesday, hours after the launch of Meghan’s own brand of strawberry jam. However, there is good news for those eager for a taste, as more 340g jars of the flavor were put on sale for £6.95 ($8.64) each on the Highgrove Gardens website on Thursday morning.”
He concluded by sharing the difference between Markle’s company and King Charles’s: “Other flavors sold by the brand include marmalade, rhubarb and ginger, raspberry and blackberry, and English damson. While profits from Meghan’s business endeavors go to herself, any excess money made as part of the Highgrove brand is donated to charity.”
The Daily Beast has an interesting theory as to why King Charles’s jam has skyrocketed: “With the teased release, some royal followers may be stocking up on the king’s jam to put the duchess’ and the king’s products in a head-to-head test.”
Some observers are wondering if Markle can really turn this venture into a major win.
