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In the past couple of weeks, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s fate has been sealed: it will be what the British tabloids are calling “a hard Megxit.” They’ll cease to be working royals and will no longer go by His and Her Royal Highness. What’s less clear is the fate of their brand, Sussex Royal, which currently encompasses both a Web site and a very popular Instagram account. The road to “financial independence,” the couple’s stated goal, appears to run through the land of branded goods. As for what kinds of goods, people have been looking for clues in the couple’s trademark application, which includes product categories such as stationery, toiletries, and sporting goods. The Daily Mail, reporting on the filing, dubbed the couple “The Royal Cash Machines!” (A few days later, the paper taunted Peter Phillips, Princess Anne’s son, for selling milk on Chinese television.)
As a Sussex Royal Instagram follower, and, if I’m being honest, a likely customer, I asked some experts to help me visualize what the brand could become. Michael Stone, the chairman and co-founder of a licensing agency called Beanstalk and the author of “The Power of Licensing: Harnessing Brand Equity,” said that the trademark filings were probably just to cover their bases, and the odds are low that the royal couple will come out of the gate hawking body lotion and sticky notes. “I think the British public would recoil at that, and even in the U.S. people may see it as a sellout, an overcommercialization of their status,” he told me. Rather, he said, “I think the initial objective should be to establish their brand as a purpose-driven brand and their careers as purpose-driven careers. That’s what their generation is looking for.” They could do this through continued charity work, and the tasteful forms of cashing in exemplified by the Obamas: a book deal, speaking engagements, producing TV shows about worthy topics. (Meghan’s upcoming voice-over gig with Disney qualifies, because the proceeds will go to charity.)
Then they can get down to the business of selling stuff, which, Stone warned, isn’t as easy as Oprah Winfrey makes it look. “The history books are littered with failed celebrity brands,” he said. But Markle would appear to be well positioned to pull it off. In her previous life, as an actress, she ran a life-style blog called The Tig (named after her favorite wine, Tignanello), which billed itself as “a hub for the discerning palate—those with a hunger for food, travel, fashion & beauty.” She did an interview series, Tig Talks, where she chatted with Serena Williams and Elizabeth Hurley, recommended books (“ ‘How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are’: Because admit it, you want to be French”), and published travel guides, such as “An Insider’s Guide to Aspen” and a list of “Favorite Facialists Around the World.” Her Earth Day post had a natural-beauty roundup and a cheeky introduction: “Dear Mama Earth . . . While Earth Day may not be your birthday, per se, it is certainly a day to celebrate you, and to take extra special care of you, you hot mama. (No global warming pun intended there).”
“She’s pretty Goopy,” Elise Loehnen, the chief content officer of Gwyneth Paltrow’s life-style brand, Goop, said, explaining that the term referred to a strain of “L.A. culture” that Markle, the daughter of an L.A. yoga instructor, practically imbibed with her mother’s milk. The Tig featured an ode to her Vedic-meditation coach, who goes by the single name Light. (Markle described him as “one of those people that have such a quiet confidence, an ease, a manner that makes you calm-the-F-down while still feeling totally light and fun.”) Loehnen said, “I know she’s into Alejandro Junger’s Clean program”—the liquid cleanse that Paltrow made famous. (In 2014, Markle wrote that, since trying it, “my life has never been the same.”) Loehnen went on, “Examining your feelings is Goopy. Doing somatic yoga, working with a functional doctor.” She brought up Prince Charles’s well-known passion for alternative medicine. “I wonder if any of that’s trickled down.”
Elizabeth Holmes, a style reporter and the author of the forthcoming book “HRH: So Many Thoughts on Royal Style,” brought up Markle’s well-documented passion for food. The Tig featured recipes for dishes like Caramel Pear Galette and Turkey Tortilla Soup. Sussex Royal could include a cooking section. Holmes said that, if Markle is to resume life-style blogging, “She absolutely needs to do a post on the engagement chicken.” The concept, which was popularized by a 2004 Glamour article, refers to a dish that is supposedly so delicious that it will inspire a wavering boyfriend to commit. In 2017, Harry and Markle told the BBC that Harry proposed during a “cozy night” at home, while the couple roasted a chicken together. “That was the peak of engagement chicken,” Holmes said. “When the chicken’s so good, you become a duchess. If she does launch any kind of life-style effort, she’ll have to post the recipe.”
And then there’s fashion. At first glance, Markle’s minimalist style—she favors items like white button-down shirts and subtle jewelry—wouldn’t seem to be material for a consumerist bonanza. But Christine Ross, who runs the the popular fashion blog Meghan’s Mirror, said that a faction of the Duchess’s fans, known as the Sussex Squad, don’t want just any white button-down shirt; they want the exact one that Markle owns.
Ross, a mother of one, lives outside Washington, D.C. She and her business partner, Amanda Dishaw, who lives in Vancouver, first collaborated on a life-style blog called “What Would Kate Do?” which examined Kate Middleton’s life choices. “We asked things like, ‘What Christmas gifts would Kate give?’ Well, Kate gave the Queen a jar of homemade chutney.” These days, they make a living from deciphering every item of clothing that Markle wears. When a new image appears—say, a Twitter user spots her getting off a plane in Canada—they spring into action. They compare her outfit to “a checklist” of known items in Markle’s wardrobe, and then attempt to I.D. new pieces. For example, Markle recently wore a new pair of sunglasses while getting out of a car in Vancouver. “We knew it was a Le Specs logo, because we’re experts at brand identification,” Ross said. If they’re stumped, they call on one of two stylists they keep on retainer, who monitor Markle’s favorite brands—Givenchy, for couture looks, and more casual brands like J. Crew, Madewell, and Everlane. No detail is too small, Ross said. “People will message us saying, ‘I can see the strap of her slip in this picture. Do you know what brand of slip it is?’ Or Meghan will go to an event wearing natural face makeup, or a nude lip, and people will message us asking, ‘What brand of lip gloss is she wearing?’ It’s, like, ‘Well, I have no idea, how would I know that.’ ”
The couple’s move to North America has been boon to the Meghan-watching business, because it means that Markle has been dressing more casually. “We’ve seen her in jeans and a Barbour jacket in Vancouver, which people love,” Ross said. Her most sought-after items remain the accessible ones: the Everlane Day Market Tote, in Cognac, and ripped skinny jeans from Mother Denim, which she wore to the 2017 Invictus Games. “It’s interesting. We don’t get a bunch of clicks on her bespoke cocktail dresses,” Ross said. “People want to be like Meghan in their everyday lives. They want to feel like a duchess going to the grocery store, or picking their kids up from school. They want a little bit of that royal magic.” (Ross and Dishaw have an Etsy store, where they sell jewelry similar to items Markle has worn, and sweatshirts that say “HRH.”)
