A NEW CHAPTER BEGINS Meghan's reinvention

With the launch of her lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard, the duchess is chasing a new kind of stardom far away from royal restrictions.

- EMMA CLIFTON

It was a scene straight out of the royal playbook - the Duke and Duchess of Sussex laughing in delight as they danced, hugged and cheered their way through a recent visit to Nigeria.

The locals were enthralled, the officials were charmed and the whirlwind trip, celebrating Prince Harry's beloved Invictus Games, was a blinding success. It was the kind of royal tour that would have been seen back at the palace as another successful engagement, but for that one crucial detail - since 2020, Harry and Meghan are no longer considered working royals.

And so the charm offensive in May is just another reminder of what could have been.

It's been over four years since Harry and Meghan suddenly split from the royal family in January 2020, and in that time, their post-royal career has featured both highs and lows. There have been the high-profile partnerships, like their record-breaking Netflix documentary, Harry's best-selling memoir Spare and their charity work with Archewell. But there have also been misses, such as Meghan's brief foray into hosting a podcast for Spotify. And somewhere in the middle of that is the Duchess of Sussex's new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, which launched in April with something of a curveball debut - artisanal jam.

Considering Meghan's background of acting and activism, there has been a sense of anticipation about what she would do next, particularly as the pair's two children, Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three, grow older. Would she return to acting, where she made a name for herself in the legal series Suits? Or would she continue on her path of philanthropy?