Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have both had tough weeks, for very different reasons. While the Duke of Sussex has faced the emotional prospect of attending the funeral of his late uncle, the duchess has found herself facing a frustrating and easily avoidable setback with her new business venture.
Earlier this year, Meghan instigated a soft launch of her new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, but the label’s first few products ended up underselling — especially in comparison to father-in-law King Charles’ similar brand. With an official launch coming up, though, Meghan no doubt hoped to turn things around… only to hit a major snag.
As per The Telegraph, The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has rejected Meghan’s trademark application for American Riviera Orchard, for a reason that you’d think would’ve been picked up on before now. The USPTO cannot approve businesses that operate with the names of real places, and American Riviera is a term often applied to California’s Santa Barbara, which is where Harry and Meghan live.
As annoying a setback as this must be for Meghan, Harry’s likely having much more of a trying month as he deals with death, family fallout, and the approach of middle age.
Prince Harry reunites with Princess Diana’s family as he races towards milestone with no way to “mend fences”
Harry stunned the Royal-watching world recently when he elected to attend the funeral of his uncle, Lord Robert Fellowes, in the U.K. — which meant that he and Prince William were in the same place for the first time since the king’s coronation. Unsurprisingly, the brothers are noted to have remained far apart from each other throughout the service and never once interacted.
That said, Harry used the rare return to his homeland to reconnect with other relatives instead. The prince is known to have stayed with his late mother Princess Diana’s relatives, the Spencers, at the family’s Northamptonshire mansion Althorp House. Lord Fellowes was Diana’s brother-in-law, married to her older sister, Lady Jane Fellowes.
Interestingly, the Spencers are believed to be doing their best to save William and Harry’s relationship. “Behind the scenes, the Spencers have been working hard to get the brothers to reconcile,” a source told The Daily Beast. “They understand William’s hurt at Harry’s betrayal, but they also understand Harry’s position because of the way Diana was treated by the Windsors.”
Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be possible at this juncture. Page Six gathered intel on Harry’s life as he approaches his all-important 40th birthday this Sep. 15 and sources told them that he is facing something of a “mid-life crisis” as he feels “lost” amid the bad blood between himself and his brother. Even if Harry does want to fix things — which we’re receiving conflicting information on — William wouldn’t be reciprocative to it.
“William is not speaking to Harry. Harry is not the issue here,” stressed one insider source. Meanwhile, another source close to the Prince of Wales added, “William is furious. I’m not sure what can ever be done to mend fences.”
Seeing as the Royals aren’t known for being experts at handiwork, it seems those broken fences will remain that way for the foreseeable.