Inside Meghan’s first punt at lifestyle guru status: The Duchess’s former blog The Tig featured very candid confessions about her ‘brutal 20s’, commentary on ‘Princess Kate’s wedding’ and ‘never fitting in’

Meghan Markle has launched her new lifestyle blog, American Riviera Orchard.

The brand, is believed to be selling cutlery – knives forks spoons – cookbooks and electronic cookbooks, coffee, jams jellies and butters.

It also extends to a physical shop from which tableware, mugs, jams, tablecloths and recipe books could be sold.

Before her life in the royal family, Meghan ran a lifestyle blog called ‘The Tig’.

The passion project’ back in 2014, naming it after her favourite Tignanello red wine.

While up and running, the blog was filled with insights into the former actress’s life, including her relationship with her now estranged father and then best friend Jessica Mulroney.

To her devoted fans, Meghan opened up about her struggles of not fitting in during her time at High School, filling her lunch times with endless extra-curriculum activities just so she did not have to ‘eat lunch alone’.

She closed down The Tig after meeting Prince Harry, of course.

Meghan’s longtime friend, Suits director and producer Silver Tree, explained in Harry and Meghan’s Netflix docuseries: ‘When she first was describing [the blog] to me, she was like, “It’s like your best friend telling you all the fun things you wish you knew about in one place.”‘

But could we expect more candid confessions? Here, FEMAIL looks at some of Meghan’s most revealing posts on the Tig… 

Meghan ‘always felt like she never fitted in’ 

On her 33rd birthday Meghan declared that she had found true happiness, by being ‘kind’ to herself.

The Duchess of Sussex said her ’20s were brutal’ and her ‘teens were even worse’ where she agonised over ‘how to fit in’.

She recalled in high school spending her lunch times full of extra curriculum activities so she could avoid sitting alone in the canteen.

Writing on her blog she said: ‘My high school had cliques: the black girls and white girls, the Filipino and the Latina girls.

‘Being biracial, I fell somewhere in between. So every day during lunch, I busied myself with meetings – French club, student body, whatever one could possibly do between noon and 1pm- I was there.

‘Not so that I was more involved, but so that I wouldn’t have to eat alone.’

As she entered into her early twenties she said she struggled with ‘judging my weight, my style, my desire to be as cool/as hip/as smart/as ‘whatever’ as anyone else’.

When she was a struggling actress at 24, auditioning for different roles, a casting director told her to wear ‘less makeup’ and instead be ‘more Meghan’.

This was a mantra she decided to take with her throughout the rest of her twenties and into her thirties – ‘more Meghan’.

At the time of writing the blog post, Meghan had been divorced from ex-husband Trevor Engelson for two years and was yet to meet her Prince.

She told her fans they did not need anyone else to ‘complete’ them and that they are ‘enough’ themselves.

The ‘unladylike habits’ she vowed to give up

 Just months before she met Prince Harry, Meghan set out to ditch some of her ‘unladylike habits’ in the New Year.

Writing to fans on The Tig on January 1 2016, the future Duchess disclosed her goals and priorities for the year.

This included running a marathon, to stop swearing and to stop biting her nails as well as re-learning French.

She wrote: ‘These make my New Year’s resolution list nearly (AKA actually every) single year. The marathon hasn’t happened. The swearing comes in lulls triggered by being overworked or feeling mighty cheeky after a couple drinks.’

But Meghan also decided to not be so hard on herself if she failed to complete these goals.

She added: ‘This year I resolve to not have a resolution. If I can’t run a marathon, that’s okay. (I’m getting older – my knees are bothering me.) If it takes me a couple more years to lock down that French tutor and nail the language j’adore oh so much, that’s cool too.

‘My nails will be fine, and if I toss out a four letter word once in a blue moon, well frankly I think it adds character.’

Her one aim for the year was to ‘approach life playfully’ and ‘leave room for magic’, as advised by her Suit’s co-star Gina Torres.

Her thoughts on ‘Princess Kate’s wedding

She’s insisted on numerous occasions that she knew very little about the Royal Family before meeting Prince Harry, but Meghan Markle was certainly aware of one of his relatives – Kate Middleton .

A blog post from the Duchess of Sussex’ now defunct website The Tig reveals her feelings about royal princesses before she met Prince Harry – and they’re not completely flattering.

The former actress reflected on the ‘pomp and circumstance’ of the wedding of ‘Princess Kate’, and made a rather scathing reference to ‘grown women’ who entertain ‘childhood fantasies’ about fairytale princesses.

The entry from 2014, written by Meghan during her time on Suits, spoke about her own childhood dream of becoming ‘She-Ra, Princess of Power’.

A blog post from Meghan Markle’s now defunct website The Tig referred to the extravagant wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton in 2011, and the Duchess seemed to take a dim view of ‘childhood fantasies’ about fairytale princesses

Describing her icon, she wrote: ‘We’re definitely not talking about Cinderella here,’ and then mentioned the ‘endless conversation’ about Kate Middleton’s lavish wedding to Prince William in 2011.

Speaking of her own childhood fantasies, she said: ‘Little girls dream of being princesses. I, for one, was all about She-Ra, Princess of Power.

‘For those of you unfamiliar with the ’80s cartoon reference, She-Ra is the twin sister of He-Man and a sword-wielding royal rebel known for her strength.

‘We’re definitely not talking about Cinderella here.

‘Grown women seem to retain this childhood fantasy. Just look at the pomp and circumstance surrounding the royal wedding and endless conversation about Princess Kate.’

‘She’s savvy and fashionable and très cool, and also va va va voom pritaaaaay’

 Before she moved to the UK, where she remained for less than two years as a working royal, Meghan had a close group of friends in Toronto.

Her closest friend was said to be Canadian mother-of-three and stylist Jessica Mulroney, who she met on the set of Suits and for years they were reportedly inseparable.

In December 2015, Meghan raved about her bestie on the defunct blog: ‘She’s savvy and fashionable and très cool, and also va va va voom pritaaaaay.

‘And here’s the other thing – she also happens to be an incredible stylist, clothing the likes of Canada’s First Lady, Sophie Trudeau.’

The piece went on to list Jessica’s style tips for the festive period.

The women remained extremely close over the following years, so much so that Meghan even called Jessica on the night Harry proposed.

In the Netflix series, the Suit’s star appears to have video called Jessica where she said: ‘Oh my God Jess, it’s happening. He told me not to peek.’

Their close relationship was once again shown at the royal wedding, when Jessica was included in the bridal party, with her young daughter Ivy acting as a flower girl.

Her sons, Brian and John, were also page boys. The stylist was given a starring role as she entered the chapel alongside the Princess of Wales.

The day of the royal wedding Jessica shared snaps captioned: ‘Proud friend. Proud mom.’

More recently, however, the pair’s friendship seems to have cooled, with Jessica being noticeably absent from the couple’s Netflix docuseries, which included Meghan’s other friends like tennis star Serena Williams and Suit’s co-star Abigail Spencer.

She also made no public comments on the revelations made in Harry’s biography Spare.

It appeared as though the friendship started to become distant in 2020, after the style guru was called out by lifestyle blogger Sasha Exeter for comments she made regarding ‘white privilege’ while the pair had a conversation about the Black Lives Matters movement.

Following on from the blogger’s claims, Jessica issued three public apologies but despite this was still dropped by a number of television networks.

This included her stints as a fashion contributor on Good Morning America as well as the Canadian TV network, who said they would be pulling all episodes of her wedding-themed reality show, I Do Redo.

Jessica has not commented on rumours of them drifting apart.

In January, however, Jessica did share a snap of herself at the Duke and Duchess’ wedding, which was seen on the Netflix docuseries.

The style guru shared the picture on her Instagram without a caption and disabled comments on the post in a cryptic move.

 The day Meghan said her life changed forever – and it involved a £36 dress, rattling car and cheap blow-dry

One post on her blog, from January 2015 recalled the moment the Duchess said her life changed forever.

Meghan, at the time a struggling actress, had just finished an audition for a television show pilot called A Legal Mind – later to become known as the legal drama Suits.

But she thought she ‘blew it’ telling her agent: ‘I kept forgetting my lines, I was distracted, and I blew it. Which sucks because I really wanted this one. I really like Rachel.’

Following what she thought was a setback, the actress wrote: ‘I went home and ate my feelings (likely some iteration of bread and cheese – pizza, quesadilla, it didn’t matter) because I wasn’t in a place to be able to let it go. I wanted it, and I lost my shot at it. Or so I thought.’

Instead, the casting directors liked her enough to invite her back to audition in front of the studio and network bosses.

After being given some last-minute advice about her appearance, ‘more conservative, think hair pulled back and business attire’, she bought a $45 outfit and had her ‘hair blown out at DryBar because it was close to my house’.

The audition ended up being a success despite how ‘nervous’ and ‘hungry’ the actress said she was at the time.

She added: ‘I had no idea that this late August morning of 2011 would change my life.

‘That I would get the part. That I would live in a little apartment in Manhattan to shoot the pilot. That over a lunch of lentil salad and muhammara on Beverly Drive, I would get a call saying we were picked up. That I would film the series in Canada.’

During the blog post, she also gushed about her friends and cast-mates Gina Torres and Sarah Rafferty.

She said: ‘I didn’t know that the regal looking woman was Gina Torres, who would end up feeding me picadillo and white, burgundy in her home.

‘Or that Sarah Rafferty would become not just my Suits sister wife, but my sister – the one I hike with, and vent with, and laugh til it hurts with.

‘I didn’t know my cast would become my family, and that so many #suitors would welcome us into their homes.’

 How she bonded with tennis champion Serena Williams over hot sauces

Serena Williams and Meghan’s friendship has been well documented over the years.

The tennis superstar and the Duchess first met in 2010 at a Superbowl Party, then once again in 2014 where they ‘hit it off immediately’ according to The Tig.

The close relationship between the pair was evident when Serena starred in the Duke and Duchesses’ Netflix docuseries, Meghan and Harry.

She featured in the third episode where she said: ‘I’m looking at it through the lens of my friend, not a princess.

‘They as a couple are so tight. And rely on each other so much… I was just super excited.’

Williams added Meghan and Harry are each other’s’ ‘best, best, best friends’.

In 2014, Meghan spoke about the first time she met Serena: ‘We hit it off immediately, taking pictures, laughing through the flag football game we were both playing in, and chatting not about tennis or acting, but about all the good old fashioned girly stuff.

‘So began our friendship. She quickly became a confidante I would text when I was traveling, the friend I would rally around for her tennis matches, and the down to earth chick I was able to grab lunch with just a couple weeks ago in Toronto.’

Their friendship continued to grow over their love of fashion, ‘hot sauces’ and their ‘endless ambition’.

After Meghan became Prince Harry’s girlfriend in 2016, the Duchess leaned on the tennis pro who advised her on how to handle the paparazzi.

According to Mark Hodgkinson in Serena: A Graphic Biography of the Greatest Tennis Champion, the women’s friendship evolved through regular phone calls and texts.

Serena told Meghan to ‘stop being so nice’, according to Hodgkinson.

She went on to be invited to Meghan’s hen do and her New York baby shower in 2019.

More recently, as well as appearing in the Netflix series, Meghan invited her to star on the first episode of her Spotify podcast Archetypes.

The wish Meghan makes every birthday inspired by her mother 

Every year for her birthday Meghan makes the same wish, inspired by her own mother Doria.

She said that every birthday acts as ‘your own personal New Year’ where you can make resolutions for yourself.

Celebrating her birthday in August 2016, around the time she met Prince Harry for the first time, Meghan wished for ‘a big old happy blank filled with ‘more surprises, more adventure, more opportunities to grow, more days filled with giggles and cheeky jokes, more delicious meals, and more inspiration’.

 Her ‘Eat, Pray. Love’ month

In one of her later blog posts, months after meeting Prince Harry, Meghan wrote how she had spent the summer like the main character in Elizabeth Gilbert’s novel Eat, Pray, Love.

The Duchess had decided to spend her August hiatus from filming Suits with one simple mission, to ‘eat everything, pray (meditate) often, and simply love her (my) life, every ounce of it’.

Meghan spent the summer on ‘extravagant’ getaways, accompanied by some ‘trusted friends who met her (me) along the way for my various adventures’ who helped her ‘celebrate’ her life.

Speaking to her devoted fans, who would have seen her gallivanting abroad throughout that month, she explained she did not always lead such a luxurious life.

Meghan wrote: ‘It wasn’t long ago (cough – about ten years ago – cough) that I only had $40 in my bank account, that I could barely book an audition, and that my circle of friends was even smaller.

‘But even then, without all the pomp and circumstance, I made time to celebrate my life. Maybe it was pizza and a bottle of two buck chuck from Trader Joe’s with a couple girlfriends, tucked in for the night sitting on my living room floor.

‘Or maybe it was a dance party in my tiny apartment or a sobbing session to purge all of those feelings with my nearest and dearest.’