Watch: Meghan bakes and poses in ballgown to debut lifestyle business

The Duchess of Sussex has revealed the first glimpse of her new lifestyle venture, American Riviera Orchard.

The website was launched on Thursday with a holding page inviting supporters to join a waiting list.

An Instagram profile under the same handle, @americanrivieraorchard, features the same gold logo, featuring a decorative M, stating that the page was “by Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex⁣⁣⁣”.

It features a short video set to Nancy Wilson’s I Wish You Love, which shows the Duchess arranging flowers, baking in a kitchen and posing in a doorway, at what appears to be her Montecito home, in a ballgown.

A trademark application for American Riviera Orchard was filed on Feb 2.

It suggests that the Duchess intends to manufacture a range of domestic items from tableware and cutlery to cookbooks, place name card holders and placemats.

Jellies, jams and marmalades

It also covers a range of preserves, from jellies, jams and marmalades to various vegetable-based spreads, nut butters and fruit butters.

It follows claims that Meghan is planning to “take on America’s most famous lifestyle queens” such as Ina Garten, Martha Stewart and Joanna Gaines.

The Duchess has been working on the initiative for more than a year.

Previously billed as a lifestyle and wellness brand, the commercial venture had been heavily trailed for last autumn, but was delayed as it evolved and “took different shapes”.

There had been much speculation that it would be a version of Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow’s multi-million dollar lifestyle business, but aides insisted that was not the case.

It is described as something that is highly personal and “genuine to who she is”.

The brand is likely to evolve and slowly expand. If successful, it is thought to be likely to become the Duchess’s primary focus in the longer term.