Last month she was flogging jam. The month before that it was the clothes she wears, with online links. Now the Duchess of Sussex is rumoured to be planning her own line of make-up, which will hopefully be called Sussex Slap.
Two things have happened that hint at this exciting development. The first came when she granted an audience to Fortune magazine last week, and was asked how she came to be so wonderful. In among the general guff, it seems that after failing to find anything of interest in Britain apart from Harry, and flouncing out, “everyone” expected her to go into fashion and beauty.
We can only assume that by everyone she meant herself. The second hint is that she has posted two clips of herself on Instagram applying lipstick, which must make for fascinating viewing. What else does she post on Instagram? Carefully curated pictures of her hairdryer? Anyway, because the lipstick brand names are obscured, this has led to speculation that she has made time in her busy schedule
as a humanitarian to produce her very own make-up brand.
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The third hint is that her make-up artist, a dear friend who — unlike many of her dear friends — she has actually met, posted a video online listing all the products he used on her when she was in Paris, and from memory I think all of them were from a brand he is paid to represent as an “ambassador”. Hands up if you think Meghan likes other people making money from her smoky-eyed, nude lip “look”, and other brands getting the credit for her glowy skin. Entirely coincidentally the post has now been removed.
So it wouldn’t be even slightly surprising if she did launch her own make-up because she’s apparently working her way through a list of common household items that someone, anyone, may want to buy. Perhaps next up it will be colanders, or mugs. And, to be fair, she has her own very defined look from which she never deviates: glowy skin, nude lip, smoky eye. Her make-up artist said recently that he would love to see her sport a bold lip, and if she thinks a busy humanitarian should be seen with a bold lip then no doubt one day she will.
Whether people would pay good money for that lipstick is another matter, but not something that apparently ever troubles anyone in Montecito, which as a business strategy is an interesting one. She
may look at Selena Gomez and Kylie Jenner and Rihanna, who have all made a fortune from make-up, and think, how hard can it be? After all the As Ever jam sold out, and without Meghan we would have no idea what to do with an edible flower. But what if she only produced two pots of jam? What if the edible flowers dry up?
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We can only wait with bated breath to see if next up is make-up and think what fun she could have with the lipstick names. Nude Tights, a delicate beige with a hint of pink. Frogmore Drizzle, a beautiful peachy ray of sunshine. Kate Made Me Cry, a bold scarlet for a hapless American. Queen Elizabeth, the classiest pink of the lot. I’m Right You’re Wrong, a brave nude with a satiny sheen. Are You OK, because no one ever asked her if she was.
And finally two striking pinks with undertones of terracotta, inspired by the plant pots on her gracious terrace in California: You Are Strong and You Are Loved, which she once wrote on bananas being put in food bags for sex workers, and what a day that was to be alive. I’ll even write the press release for them: You’ve read the banana, now buy the lipstick.