She decidedly proclaimed that the royal life just wasn’t for her. But Buckingham palace is a long way from Beverly Hills, and – across the pond – there’s one Queen bee that Meghan Markle has long aspired to keep on side. Her name is Kris Jenner, and while her family may have once been derided as the Kartrashians, there’s no denying that she’s since elevated them to sovereign status in the States, affording herself more influence, cachet and showbiz know-how than any British monarch in the process. So, it’s no surprise that Meghan wasted no time in reaching out to Kris and co once she and Harry settled on US soil.
But while her early efforts proved fruitful – and saw both her and her mother, Doria Ragland, ingratiating themselves with the royal house of the Kardashians – the past few months have seen a change of tide for Meghan. According to insiders, the aspiring lifestyle guru has already found herself cast adrift from the Hollywood A-list, having seemingly alienated herself from superstar friends like Oprah Winfrey and George and Amal Clooney, but now Kris seems to be distancing herself too. And Meghan, we’re told, is outraged by the very public snubbing. After all, while Kris and the rest of the Kardashians are each billionaire brands in their own rights, they’re still seen to represent a rather vulgar, more flashy side of the Hollywood elite. To be snubbed by them now, in addition to her former A-list friends, is the ultimate insult – and is testament to just how far Meghan and Harry have fallen from grace.
“It’s beyond humiliating for Meghan to be tossed aside by the Kardashians,” says an insider close to the Duchess of Sussex, who wasted no time in assimilating with the Hollywood crowd once she and Harry first moved to California in 2020. “She and Meghan initially had their sights set a lot higher with big-time, old-school power players like the Obamas, the Clooneys, and other A-listers, so to end up being rejected by Kris now is a pretty big blow.
But Meghan isn’t letting anyone see her sweat over it – she’s essentially ignoring the snub and hanging onto the idea that, once things get rolling with her brand, the interest will be there from Kris again as far as business partnerships go. She’s still going to send them all gifts when she has her next product launch, and she’s bound to run into them sooner or later, and they have so many mutual contacts, so no doubt she’ll use it as a chance to reconnect and try to get things back on track.”
While Kris and her tribe may once have been something of a Hollywood joke, there’s no denying that – these days – the joke’s on all their critics, having turned themselves into the one of the biggest, and most lucrative, family brands the world has ever seen – one to even rival a royal family. Last year, as heat reported, there were already rumblings of an alliance being forged between the Sussexes and the Kardashians, as Kris was believed to be giving Meghan advice when it came to monetising and marketing their family brand. Last year, Meghan’s beloved mum Doria was pictured alongisde Kris and daughter Kim Kardashian at a charity do, with one insider saying how happy Meghan had been to hear how warmly her mother had been received by the pair. Later, Meghan herself was seen cosying up to Kris and Kim at Beyoncé’s LA tour dates, leading many to speculate that she might even appear on The Kardashians. The idea, as we told you at the time, was that there would be a certain quid pro quo between the two powerhouses: while Meghan could bolster the Kardashians’ ratings by appearing on their show, they might be able to help her out further down the line when it came to promoting her own forthcoming projects.
Fast forward a year, and – despite some rumblings of big things for Meghan – the excitement has since stalled. In March, she announced her new wellness brand, American Riviera Orchard, on social media. Little detail was given about the brand, but – a month later – she stoked our interest further, after sending out an exclusive batch of homemade jams to 50 of her most influential, high-profile friends. Kris, of course, was on the recipients list, and duly shared a picture of the artisanal jam jar with her 52m followers, thanking American Riviera Orchard for the gesture. But since then, Meghan’s gone quiet when it comes to her highly-anticipated launch, with many saying she’s simply biding time before admitting yet another flop, having already been dropped by Spotify for not delivering on her business promises.
As heat has told you, the duchess is apparently being waylaid by Netflix, whom she’s working with on a new cookery show, which will tie in with the brand’s big launch. The streaming giant has apparently taken over all commercial dealings with the brand, and plans to do a massive launch next year, to tie in with the airing of her series. But in the meantime, she’s got nothing to show for her business, and those who she’s previously reached out to for collaborations have lost their patience – Kris being the most prominent. It’s no secret that the Kardashian matriarch likes to work quickly and efficiently and, as our source tells us, she’s not prepared to sit around and wait for Meghan. She’s open to working with her in the future, but for now, she’s backed off – and that’s what stings most.
“Kris isn’t completely spitting the Sussexes out, but she’s really cooled off on all her cross-promotional plans,” we’re told. “For a minute, she was talking about all these new things they could do together and inviting Meghan into her tight-knit social circle, but she now seems to have moved on and she’s stopped bragging about the projects they have in the works. It’s a very obvious shift and everyone’s saying it’s because things stalled on Meghan’s end and didn’t happen fast enough for Kris. But ultimately, people can’t help but wonder if she’s dropped them because she’s seen that the opinion polls on the Sussexes are way down. Meghan is playing it cool, but it’s clear this is a letdown for her. The Kardashians have a good track record when it comes to building huge brands, and lord knows that’s exactly the kind of help she needs right now.”
For now, it seems Meghan is doing what she does best – slapping on a brave face, and projecting to the world the image of a woman who is hardly fazed by public snubs and business flops. But for somebody who clearly understands that Hollywood is built on the strength of who you know, there’s no doubt that losing Kris and co is a bitter pill to swallow – however much jam she uses to sweeten the taste of defeat.