Meghan Markle's New Instagram Gains 375K Followers Overnight Including Kris Jenner and Abigail Spencer
The Duchess of Sussex is back on the 'gram with American Riviera Orchard
Meghan Markle’s new Instagram account has drawn thousands of followers, including some famous names.
After launching on Thursday, the Duchess of Sussex’s new social media page for the brand American Riviera Orchard, already verified with a blue checkmark, has garnered over 375,000 followers in less than 24 hours. Kris Jenner, Abigail Spencer and Mindy Kaling are some of the stars with ties to Meghan who have given the page a follow.
Jenner and Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, connected in August 2023 at This Is About Humanity’s 5th Anniversary Soiree in Los Angeles, where they posed for a photo with Jenner’s daughter Kim Kardashian.
Meanwhile, Spencer has been friends with Meghan, 42, since they costarred on Suits and recently praised her on The Kelly Clarkson Show as an “incredible person” while speaking about their friendship.
Kaling joined the Duchess of Sussex on her podcast Archetypes in September 2022 for a conversation titled "The Stigma of Singleton,” where they dissected the sexist definitions of "spinster" and "old maid," plus the gendered pressure for women to marry.
Related: What Will Meghan Markle's New Brand Sell? Inside the Trademark for American Riviera Orchard
Other followers of American Riviera Orchard now include model Elle Macpherson, friend and designer Misha Nonoo, former Archewell Foundation president Mandana Dayani and friend and photographer Misan Harriman.
Meghan’s friends Heather Dorak and Kelly McKee Zajfen, whom she was spotted on a ski trip with at the end of February, also followed and celebrated the new account. Dorak, the founder of Pilates Platinum, and McKee Zajfen, the co-founder of Alliance of Moms, both shouted out the venture’s launch day with messages on their Instagram Stories.
"So proud of my dear friend!!" Dorak wrote with a heart emoji and tagged the new handle.
"Couldn't be more proud of you and what's to come. Stay tuned!!!! @americanorchard. Love you M," McKee Zajfen said, using the Duchess of Sussex’s nickname.
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American Riviera Orchard appears to be a lifestyle brand with an application filed to sell homewares, cookbooks, and jams and more. It debuted with a coordinating website and Instagram profile on Thursday, with Meghan appearing in the first Instagram Story through a short film, where she arranged flowers and cooked in a kitchen to the tune of "I Wish You Love" by Nancy Wilson.
Related: Meghan Markle Returns to Instagram! The Duchess of Sussex Launches Surprise New Venture
The new brand might mark a return to Meghan’s roots, as she launched and ran the lifestyle blog The Tig before she started dating and later married Prince Harry. Though she shuttered the site (and her Instagram page with 3 million followers) after getting engaged to the royal in 2017, Meghan spoke about the passion she had for The Tig in the 2022 Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan.
"I've never been the type of person to do only one thing. I guess that's how my website was born," the Duchess of Sussex said in the series. "There was fashion, there was tons of food, and travel, so it was all of the things that I loved. And The Tig wasn't just a hobby. It became a really successful business."
The surprise launch of American Riviera Orchard is significant as Meghan’s official return to social media for the first time in four years, as she and her husband last updated their @SussexRoyal Instagram page in 2020 after stepping back as working members of the royal family.
American Riviera Orchard also arrived on the fourth anniversary of what Prince Harry described as the family's "freedom flight" from Canada to Los Angeles.
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