It has been more than four years since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle dramatically quit royal life and upped sticks from the UK to move to America – and soon after making the bombshell announcement, a book claims Meghan made a tearful admission to a friend

After her controversial trip to Colombia, a glimpse of Meghan Markle’s future business plans has been shared.

It has been revealed that the Duchess of Sussex has widened her investment portfolio by investing in a small, upmarket handbag brand. It comes as she reportedly edges closer to fully launching her lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard, which it is claimed will come later this year.

But before she chased business deals or began launching her own brand, Meghan had been a senior working royal after marrying Prince Harry. But of course, more than four years ago, they stunned the world when they dramatically quit their royal roles.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle during their final royal engagement together ( 
Image:
WireImage)

It was later revealed they had moved to California with their young son Prince Archie and have since stayed there, welcoming younger daughter Princess Lilibet. The couple revealed in a statement at the time, they wanted to “work to become financially independent”.

However, according to the 2020 book Finding Freedom, a source told authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand that courtiers at the Palace blamed Meghan for her and Harry’s decision, leading her to make an emotional nine-word admission to a friend several weeks after the announcement.

The book quotes a source as saying: “The courtiers blame Meghan, and some family do. She, on the other hand, felt she had sacrificed a lot for the royals. As Meghan tearfully told a friend in March: ‘I gave up my entire life for this family. I was willing to do whatever it takes. But here we are. It’s very sad’.”

Meghan Markle during the Sussexes’ tour of Colombia earlier this month ( 
Image:
Mario Castillo/GTRES/REX/Shutterstock)
Just yesterday, Meghan gave a rare interview about her new life and investments revealing she spends a lot of time Googling “just looking for brands”. The firm she has no invested in, Cesta Collective, specialises in bags, costing hundreds of dollars, that are handwoven by a group of women in Rwanda before they are sent to Italy to be finished off.

Meghan was spotted toting one of the bags last May when she and Prince Harry were spotted heading to a restaurant near their home in Montecito for dinner with Hollywood A-listers Cameron Diaz and Gwenyth Paltrow. After she wore the bag, the founders of Cesta Collective sent Meghan a thank you note and it was then that the Duchess offered to make an investment. In an interview with the New York Times about the new move, Meghan refused to say how much she had invested, although the brand owners confirmed it was a minority stake.

Speaking to the publication after returning from the Sussexes’ Colombia tour, Meghan said that she realised her ‘power’ when it came to promoting brands back in 2017, just before she married Harry. On her first ever royal engagement in Nottingham she wore a bag by the British brand Strathberry, which sold out quickly and gave the company huge exposure.

And talking about her influence, Meghan told the outlet: “Times where I know there is a global spotlight, and attention will be given to each detail of what I may or may not be wearing, then I support designers that I have really great friendships with, and smaller, up-and-coming brands that haven’t gotten the attention that they should be getting. That’s one of the most powerful things that I’m able to do, and that’s simply wearing, like, an earring.”

The new investment also comes just months after Meghan launched her own lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard, with a brand new website and Instagram page. Meghan announced her new business venture with an Instagram teaser video, showing the duchess cooking and arranging white hydrangeas and roses.