Battle of the jams! Sussex source hits back as sales of Charles’s Highgrove conserve soar and insists Meghan’s product is made onsite at her $14 million Montecito mansion (but the King’s is bought in)

The royal battle of the jams has officially begun as sources close to the Sussexes have stressed Meghan’s jam is as authentic as it comes – amid sales of her father-in-law’s similar product enjoying a spike in sales.   

The Duchess of Sussex launched her strawberry jam this week – the first product under her American Riviera Orchard lifestyle label – in a move that seems to have been inspired by her father-in-law King Charles. 

She sent the jam in baskets to 50 friends and influencers, each accompanied by a basket of lemons. 

And a California-based source has now hit back at the criticism she has so far received, revealing that the fruit used in her jam is homegrown at the $14million Montecito mansion she shares with Prince Harry. 

Meanwhile, the fruit used in King Charles’s Highgrove Organic Strawberry Preserve is brought in from elsewhere. 

‘All the fruit came from Harry and Meghan’s home garden in Montecito,’ the source told The Daily Mail last night. 

The King began selling products from the Duchy of Cornwall estate in the 1990s with jam added to the range in 2010 when Waitrose took on the exclusive license.

But in fact Meghan announcing her own jam has actually boosted sales for the monarch as his £6.95 range sold out within days of the Duchess’s launch. 

Charles’s own Highgrove brand has seen a jump in sales from royalists who have flocked to buy the preserve in great number – as Meghan’s jam bore a striking resemblance to the King’s. 

However, there is good news for those eager for a taste, as more 340g jars of the flavour were put on sale for £6.95 each on the Highgrove Gardens website on Thursday morning.

Other flavours sold by the brand include marmalade, rhubarb and ginger, raspberry and blackberry, and English damson.

While profits from Meghan’s business endeavours go to herself, any excess money made as part of the Highgrove brand is donated to charity.

On the Highgrove Gardens website, it describes the strawberry preserve as bringing ‘the taste of summer to your plate’ and ‘quintessentially English’.

‘A mouth-watering combination of plump ripe strawberries and tangy lemon, it’s perfect paired with cream or butter on warm scones or as a filling for a classic Victoria sponge,’ it adds.

‘Carefully cooked by hand in small batches to an original Highgrove recipe, the strawberry jam is bursting with fruity flavours.

‘Traditionally packaged, the label on the glass jar features a specially commissioned woodcut design that captures the natural beauty of the gardens at Highgrove.’

Royal fans can’t get enough of the produce it seems, with one writing on X: ‘Back in stock. Just ordered a few goodies…including jam…for Father’s Day.’

Another added that it was ‘absolutely fantastic’, writing: ‘I have just decided to buy some myself. They have an online-shop’.

Celebrities that have shared pictures of the jam online include The Office’s Mindy Kaling, fashion designer Tracy Robbins and Argentine socialite Delfina Balquier, who posted pictures of the gifted jars to their stories. 

Mrs Robbins and her husband Paramount boss Brian Robbins are friends with the Sussexes and invited them to the Bob Marley film premiere in Jamaica in January. 

The couple are also friends with Ms Balquier, who is married to Prince Harry ‘s friend Nacho Figueras – with the four together at a charity polo match in Florida last Friday.

The Duchess is expected to officially launch American Riviera Orchard later this spring, with a source telling People magazine last week: ‘Meghan finds the name American Riviera Orchard perfect. It feels authentic to her.

‘She can’t wait for the website to launch. She is excited about her latest, personal venture. This is something she’s been wanting to do for a while. She is excited to share her style and things that she loves.’

Royal watchers were quick to point out that the label on the jams appeared to have been written in Meghan’s own hand, as the socialite was a keen calligrapher before her acting days. 

But others were quick to point out that it looked like the label of the jams were already peeling off. 

Taking to X, one fan wrote: ‘I know people are saying the label is coming off.

‘Remember, Meghan is a sustainable girly. The label probably isn’t stuck firmly on to allow people to peel it off easily and reuse the jar for other things – maybe their own homemade batch of jam..from a cookbook,’.

PR expert Nick Ede said looked ‘very home made with a stylish crest and almost handwritten brand name’. 

Mr Ede said the jam ‘will have most likely have been sourced in Montecito and produced by hand by Meghan herself to make them feel special and thought of.’

He claimed her strategy was ‘highlighting the brand rather than Meghan’ as she tries to get people to ‘buy into the ARO lifestyle not just her own personal brand’.

Others took to social media to compare snippets of Meghan’s calligraphy with the label. 

Meghan worked as a calligrapher while trying to pay bills as she auditioned for acting roles.  

Meghan wrote correspondence for Dolce & Gabbana and wedding invitations for clients including Robin Thicke. She has credited handwriting classes at school for her craft.

On her former lifestyle website The Tig, Meghan described herself as ‘a firm believer in handwritten notes’.

Speaking about the launch, Mr Ede told MailOnline: ‘The creation of individually numbered jars of jam sent to a selected group of influential people is exactly what I thought that Meghan would do.

‘The whole premise of her new brand American Riviera Orchard is to highlight the quality and origin of the locally sourced ingredients and how they have been lovingly made into jam.

‘As a way of getting the brand out there and in keeping with the home-made, straight from the home aesthetic that she has gone for it works really well.’

Mr Ede also pointed out that Meghan was ‘filming a new cookery lifestyle show for Netflix which will show her making things that she loves and wants to share with viewers and fans‘.

He continued: ‘It’s not known how much the jam will cost and if it will even go into mass production but as a way of creating interest it’s also highlighting the brand rather than Meghan, which will be her strategy.

‘She wants people to buy into the ARO lifestyle not just her own personal brand. The look and feel of it is very home made with a stylish crest and almost handwritten brand name to keep it feeling like it’s a personal present.

‘The idea that she’s only sent it to 50 people shows that the stock is limited and creates a demand too and interest. As a launch its low key but in keeping with their new softer, homely approach to their celebrity status and lifestyle.’ 

But others questioned Meghan’s PR strategy as the website domain for her American Riviera Orchard brand instead led to a British foodbank and message saying ‘thoughts with Catherine’ – after a mystery buyer snapped up the domain name. 

Fans clicking on the link ‘americanrivieraorchard.uk’ will be taken to a page asking for donations for the UK-based charity – and discover a very pointed message. 

While the home page states ‘Forgiveness. Permission. Please donate to the Trussell Trust’, clicking on this will lead to a Just Giving fundraiser for the Trussell Trust charity.

‘not Meghan. hope Meghan wouldn’t mind. thoughts with catherine X,’ the cryptic message reads.

As soon as users open the website they are met with the cryptic words ‘forgiveness’ and ‘permission’ before encouraging people to ‘please donate to the Trussell Trust’.

It seems unlikely that the domain was bought by Meghan’s representatives with those who have donated suggesting a Good Samaritan was responsible for buying up the domain.

The Trussell Trust confirmed to MailOnline that it did not set up the webpage and had been unaware of the donation site.

Mrs Robbins posted a picture of Meghan’s jam, which had the American Riviera Orchard logo and ‘Montecito’ underneath – the celebrity enclave in California where Harry and Meghan live in a £12million home. The label also had the words ’17 of 50′.

The photo on Mrs Robbins’s Instagram Stories showed the jam in her hand, and she said: ‘@AmericanRivieraOrchard Breakfast, lunch and dinner just got a little sweeter.’

Showing it in a basket with lemons, Mrs Robbins added: ‘Thank you for the delicious basket! I absolutely love this jam so not sure I’m sharing with anyone. @American RivieraOrchard Thank you, M! #MontecitoGoodness #AmericanRivieraOrchard.’

Ms Balquier posted a similar picture on her Stories, saying: ‘Strawberry jam makes me happy. And I love your jam, @AmericanRivieraOrchard.’ Her label said: ’10 of 50.’

The post also showed some of the jam spread on a piece of bread.

Mr Ede also spoke about who else might have been sent the jam, and why she was using friends and influencers to help with the launch.

He said: ‘Sending her product to influential people is a great way of getting the brand name out there. It allows Meghan to create a buzz on social media and also for fans to see a glimpse into the lifestyles of the people she has sent the jam too.

‘It also creates intrigue as to who has been lucky enough to receive the jam. I am sure Meghan will have thought long and hard as to who to send her first batch to.

‘Individually numbering shows that the send out was limited edition but it does also make those who didn’t get the jam feel left out perhaps too.

‘I think she will have sent to some of her friends, local neighbours, influential people in the lifestyle and cooking circles and people she feels will genuinely appreciate the gesture.’

It comes after the Duchess launched her new business venture on March 14 with an Instagram teaser.

A vintage-style video of Meghan cooking and arranging white hydrangeas and roses was posted to the new American Riviera Orchard Instagram account.

The brief video was set to Nancy Wilson’s I Wish You Love and closes with the brand’s logo written in fine gold script above the word ‘Montecito’.

Limited information has been released about American Riviera Orchard but a trademark application filed on February 2 this year showed the company wishes to offer downloadable and printed recipe books, table wear, textiles, and jams and marmalades, according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office website. 

The account had 100,000 followers just three hours after its first post – a figure which is now up to 606,000. 

Meghan has not run an Instagram account since the Sussexes stepped back from royal life four years ago.

Previously, they ran a joint account @sussexroyal but announced they would stop posting in March 2020.

Last week an exclusive DailyMail.com/TIPP survey found 68 per cent of Americans were not interested in American Riviera Orchard.

Less than a fifth of voters said they were interested in the range, while 14 per cent said they were not sure.

Meghan hopes to sell products from bird seed to pet treats and gardening shears to napkin rings with American Riviera Orchard

She listed a range of items in documents sent to the US Patent and Trademark Office, also including bath soaps, curtains and yoga blankets.

And Meghan is hoping to sell scented oils, reed diffusers, fragrances and non-medicated pet grooming products such as shampoo and conditioner for dogs.

Meghan’s trademark application also appears to extend to a physical shop where items could be sold.

Some believe such merchandising could breach Harry and Meghan’s agreement with the late Queen Elizabeth II not to commercialise their royal connections.

At the time of the launch last month, an insider told the Mail: ‘The brand is meant to coincide with the launch of a new cookery show for Netflix.

‘Meghan will be making, and selling products such as jams. At some point there will be a book and a blog.’

Meghan launched American Riviera Orchard just one day before her sister-in-law the Princess of Wales released an emotional video message revealing she has cancer and has started a course of preventative chemotherapy.

Kate’s diagnosis was discovered in post-operative tests following her major abdominal surgery.

King Charles III is also undergoing treatment for cancer, which was announced at the start of February.

Last month Harry and Meghan wished Kate ‘health and healing’ last week, saying they hoped the Princess and her family would be ‘able to do so privately and in peace’.