Every Business Venture Meghan Markle Has Launched Since Stepping Back From Royal Life

Meghan Markle has taken on a number of roles since she and Prince Harry stepped back from their royal roles in March 2020

Meghan Markle has been busy juggling multiple roles from podcast host to investor since stepping back from her royal role alongside her husband, Prince Harry, in March 2020.

One year later, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex officially confirmed that they would no longer be senior working royals, which also meant they would no longer keep their patronages (their royal involvement with numerous U.K. charities).

Since then, Meghan and Harry moved to their home in Santa Barbara, California, where they are raising their two children, Archie and Lilibet. The couple have also worked on a number of business ventures to support themselves after they were "cut off" financially from Harry's family, as he explained during a 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Related: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Children: All About Archie and Lilibet

In addition to working on their nonprofit organization, the Archewell Foundation, Meghan and Harry have inked deals with major companies like Netflix and Spotify.

In March 2024, Meghan announced her newest venture: a lifestyle brand called American Riviera Orchard, which will offer a variety of products from cookbooks to tableware. It also marked her first return to social media since 2020, when the couple made their last update to their @SussexRoyal Instagram page.

The brand is reminiscent of Meghan's previous lifestyle blog, The Tig, which she shuttered in 2017. The Suits alum started The Tig (named after Italian wine Tignanello) in 2014 and used the platform to write about her favorite food and travel adventures, as well as personal musings.

“After close to three beautiful years on this adventure with you, it’s time to say goodbye to The Tig,” she wrote on the site upon its shuttering. “What began as a passion project (my little engine that could) evolved into an amazing community of inspiration, support, fun and frivolity."

From starting her own podcast to launching a lifestyle brand, here's a look at all of Meghan Markle's business ventures since she stepped away from her royal role.

Harry and Meghan’s nonprofit, the Archewell Foundation

At the same time as they announced they were stepping away from royal duties in March 2020, Harry and Meghan also spearheaded their nonprofit organization, the Archewell Foundation.

"Before SussexRoyal came the idea of 'arche' — the Greek word meaning 'source of action,' " they shared in a statement at the time of how the name came to be. "We connected to this concept for the charitable organization we hoped to build one day, and it became the inspiration for our son’s name.”

Six months after the initial announcement, they created a website for the foundation. The couple have since used their nonprofit to raise money for various charities; in 2021, they raised about $13 million and gave approximately $3 million in grants, with plans to distribute the rest of the money in years to come, per their Impact Report.

Throughout 2021 and 2022, the organization also provided millions of COVID-19 vaccines and served over 50,000 meals. Archewell also works with various efforts throughout the year, including a celebration of Black History Month in February 2024.

The following month, Harry and Meghan personally presented the winner of the NAACP – Archewell Foundation Digital Civil Rights Award with the prize at the SXSW Conference in Austin, Texas.

Harry and Meghan’s Netflix deal

In September 2020, it was announced that Meghan and Harry signed a multiyear deal with Netflix to produce multiple projects for the streaming service.

"Our lives, both independent of each other, and as a couple have allowed us to understand the power of the human spirit: of courage, resilience, and the need for connection," they said in a statement. "Through our work with diverse communities and their environments, to shining a light on people and causes around the world, our focus will be on creating content that informs but also gives hope."

Two years later, in December 2022, their docuseries, Harry & Meghan, premiered on Netflix. It documented everything from the early stages of their relationship to their decision to leave the U.K., garnering the biggest documentary debut week in the history of the platform.

Harry and Meghan have since produced a number of projects, including the documentary series Live to Lead and Heart of Invictus. In February 2024, Netflix's Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria revealed at the Next on Netflix event that the duo have more projects slated for the 2024 year.

"They have a movie in development, a [scripted] series that they're working on,” Bajaria said. “So all very early development, with a movie, a TV show and a couple of unscripted shows. But yeah, the movie's great."

The next month, Deadline reported that Archewell Productions has two nonfiction series in the "early stages" of production at Netflix. One series will be executive produced by Meghan and will "celebrate the joys of cooking and gardening, entertaining and friendship."

Meanwhile, the second series will "provide viewers unprecedented access to the world of professional polo," which is a sport Prince Harry has participated in for years.

Meghan’s Archetypes podcast

Two months after they announced their Netflix partnership, Harry and Meghan announced that they signed a "multi-year partnership" with Spotify and their newly formed production company, Archewell Audio.

Their collaboration brought about Meghan’s Archetypes podcast, which launched in August 2022. The podcast saw a successful first season, skyrocketing to the top of Spotify’s international charts in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada within two days of the first episode’s release.

On the show, Meghan invited a litany of famous guests from Serena Williams to Paris Hilton, and used their conversations to explore different stereotypes and prejudices that hold women back. It even won a People’s Choice Award for pop podcast of 2022.

However, in June 2023, they announced that they had parted ways with Spotify after 12 episodes of Archetype.

“The team behind Archetypes remain proud of the podcast they created at Spotify,” a representative at WME, Meghan’s talent agency, told the Wall Street Journal. “Meghan is continuing to develop more content for the Archetypes audience on another platform."

Meghan’s investment in Clevr Blends

In one of her solo business ventures, Meghan invested in a women-owned small business, Clevr Blends, after falling in love with their lattes. Hannah Mendoza, the co-founder of Clevr, shared in a February 2023 Instagram Reel that her life and business changed drastically after Meghan became their “first investor, adviser and biggest Clevr advocate.”

The instant latte brand quickly also became a favorite of Winfrey’s and the company had sold more than 6 million lattes by 2023.

"This investment is in support of a passionate female entrepreneur who prioritizes building community alongside her business," Meghan said in an earlier press release. "I'm proud to invest in Hannah's commitment to sourcing ethical ingredients and creating a product that I personally love and has a holistic approach to wellness. I believe in her and I believe in her company."

Harry and Meghan’s partnership with Ethic

In October 2021, Harry and Meghan announced a new partnership in a completely different field than their previous work: finance. They took on the roles of "impact partners" with Ethic, a financial services company focused on environmental, social and governance investing. The company’s clients already invested more than $1 billion into values-driven companies.

The decision to partner with Ethic was a personal one for Meghan, who told The New York Times' Dealbook that investing was never something she grew up seeing as an option for herself.

"From the world I come from, you don't talk about investing, right?” she said. “You don't have the luxury to invest. That sounds so fancy."

She added that she and Harry’s friends had introduced them to Ethic, and she was quickly inspired by their values.

"My husband has been saying for years, 'Gosh, don't you wish there was a place where if your values were aligned like this, you could put your money to that same sort of thing?' " she said.

Meghan's podcast deal with Lemonada Media

After parting ways with Spotify, Meghan signed a new podcast deal with Lemonada Media in February 2024. The Duchess of Sussex announced the news on her and Harry's recently launched website — Sussex.com — after it was first reported by Deadline.

“I’m proud to now be able to share that I am joining the brilliant team at Lemonada to continue my love of podcasting,” Meghan said in a statement, revealing that the one season of Archetypes will now be available on all podcast platforms as a result of the partnership.

She also shared that she's working on a "dynamic new podcast" with Lemonada. "I’m so eager to be able to share it soon, and am overjoyed to be joining the Lemonada family," Meghan wrote.

Meghan’s lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard

On the fourth anniversary of her and Harry’s “freedom flight” from Canada to their new lives in L.A., Meghan quietly announced her latest venture, American Riviera Orchard, on Instagram — marking her return to the social media app for the first time in five years.

The surprise project debuted with both an Instagram account and a website of its own. The bio on the Instagram page reads, "By Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. Established 2024."

The name appears to be a nod to where Meghan resides in Santa Barbara, which Travel & Leisure said has been known as the “American Riviera” "because of its temperate climate and lush landscapes, as well as its robust food and wine culture."

Below the name, the logo also includes “Montecito,” which is the neighborhood the Duke and Duchess of Sussex live in.

Per the brand’s trademark application, the brand will sell several products classified under “goods and services.” This list includes everything from kitchen goods like tableware, cutlery and downloadable cookbooks to food like jellies, jams and nut-based spreads. The application is still pending review by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The brand seems to have caught the attention of fans and celebrities alike, as it garnered over 375,000 followers in less than 24 hours, including Kris Jenner, Abigail Spencer and Mindy Kaling.

In April 2024, a source told PEOPLE that American Riviera Orchard is set to launch this spring. A few weeks later, the brand's first product was revealed: a jar of strawberry jam.

Fashion designer Tracy Robbins and Delfina Blaquier, a photographer and wife of polo star Nacho Figueras, were the first to post about their gift baskets from American Riviera Orchard, which contained the strawberry jam.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.