Her Netflix lifestyle and cookery series has certainly got critics simmering nicely, with one of them summarising it as ‘sensationally absurd and trite’, while my ever playful colleague Jan Moir muses that it seems aimed at people who ‘need a recipe to make an ice cube’.
But has her devotion to Meghan, With Love also caused its star to take her eye off another of her passion projects – the one which, if all goes well, will allow devotees to shell out for a taste of her jam or the sort of trinket that might grace her £11million Montecito mansion?
I ask because the Duchess of Sussex, 43, appears to have been tripped up yet again by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
It has, I can disclose, just returned the paperwork she submitted in a bid to secure a trademark for ‘As Ever’ – the name she’s selected for the ‘lifestyle brand’ which she originally unveiled last April when she hoped it would be called ‘American Riviera Orchard’.
That first proposal was ditched after I revealed her application had been challenged by Harry & David, an American institution which has annual sales of £1.7billion and owns the trademark ‘Royal Riviera’.
Meghan pictured in an episode of her new Netflix series With Love, Meghan
Meghan returned to the proverbial drawing board and renamed her embryonic company ‘As Ever’, applying to trademark the name as she did so.
But the speed of her response arguably undermined its precision. The Trademark Office has told her she must clarify exactly what she means by various items – including ‘spoons serving jams and fruit preserves’ – and to list all goods and services ‘by their international class number’.
And, above all else, she must sign the document – without which it will not be ‘properly verified’.
Bizarrely, Meghan made the same mistake – failing to sign the document – when trying to trademark ‘The Tig’ – the name of her old lifestyle blog – and again with ‘Archetypes’, the name she chose for her short-lived Spotify podcast.
Ronnie Wood’s wife Jo publishes debut book
Having been married to hell-raising Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood for 24 years, her life has been more colourful than most novels.
But former model Jo Wood has nevertheless decided to publish her debut work of fiction – at the age of 70.
Called The Resurrection Of Flo, the novel is a romantic fantasy to be published by Matthew James later this year.
Described as ‘sexy, shocking and sincere’, the story will offer ‘intimate’ glimpses into former Strictly Come Dancing contestant Jo’s real-life experiences.
Jo Wood, wife of Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood, has decided to publish her first book
Big cat’s in the doghouse for nipping fashionista
A photoshoot at Howletts Wild Animal Park left its mark on fashion designer Alice Temperley.
She’s revealed that Saba, the cheetah sunk its teeth into Victoria Aspinall. Saba has since been released in South Africa.
Referring to this photograph, Temperley says: ‘Just before being returned to the wild and after biting my leg – Vix and her cheetah in our red tattoo dress.’
She adds: ‘It did not hurt.’
The Kent park is run by Victoria’s ex-fiance Damian Aspinall. Mayfair club owner Robin Birley was left with lifelong facial scars after being mauled by a tiger there when he was 12 – so Alice got off lightly.
Victoria Aspinall and Saba the cheetah, who bit the model during a photoshoot
Mystery of Cherie and Euan’s £3million lettings firm
Tony Blair’s wife, Cherie, and eldest son, Euan, appear to have sold their property lettings business, Oldbury Residential Ltd, which owns more than 30 flats and houses in the North of England.
Newly published documents reveal that the pair were replaced as controlling parties of the company by the Performance Property Group, which manages footballers’ property investments.
Oldbury held £3.3million worth of property, according to its last set of accounts.
Tony Blair with his family (left to right) Euan, Kathryn, Cherie, Nicky and Leo in the front
King attends memorial to General Sir Mike Jackson
King Charles was among 700 who packed into the Royal Memorial Chapel at Sandhurst on Monday to celebrate the life of General Sir Mike Jackson, who died last October aged 80.
Sir Mike was in Northern Ireland as a company commander in the Parachute Regiment, of which Charles was appointed colonel-in-chief in 1977, when the prince’s beloved uncle Earl Mountbatten was assassinated by the IRA two years later.
And Sir Mike was head of the Army when a decision was made about whether Charles’s sons could serve in Afghanistan.
He said of the late Queen: ‘She was very clear.
She said: ‘My grandsons have taken my shilling, therefore they must do their duty.’
It was decided that for William, as heir to the heir, the risk was too great. But for his younger brother [Harry], the risk was acceptable.’
General Sir Mike Jackson at Army headquarters in Srinagar in October 21, 2004
My Family too complex to revive now, says Zoe
Zoe Wanamaker, who posed next to her portrait by artist Christine Youldon at The Mall Galleries in London this week, has poured cold water on claims that she could return to her most popular role.
The actress, 75, starred in hit BBC sitcom My Family, about a white household in west London, for 11 years until 2011.
And her co-star Kris Marshall has called for it to be revived.
However, Wanamaker says: ‘My Family was about a nice middle-class family, and about relationships.
‘It was smart, ironic and funny. I don’t know what they would do now.
‘It would be complex to do the same storyline today as I feel it would be stripped from what it was.
‘It was about family dynamics – women, men, and couples dealing with children. Everything has changed.’
Shame.
Zoe Wanamaker attends new exhibition ‘Players: All The World’s A Stage’ in London yesterday
Rupert Everett looks back in regret
Rupert Everett is feeling guilty about being ‘manipulative’ towards former colleagues.
‘At work, sometimes I disliked somebody and was deliberately nasty,’ admits the 65-year-old star of My Best Friend’s Wedding.
‘I am, and was, an insecure person, so sometimes at work I cheated people, and people got on my nerves a lot and there was just no reason for it.
‘I was quite manipulative in those kind of situations and I had a sharp tongue that I didn’t know the strength of.’
Last summer, I disclosed that Everett had got married to the man with whom he’d discreetly shared his life for years, a Brazilian accountant called Henrique.
Rupert Everett, pictured here in 2015, has expressed guilt about his ‘manipulative’ past