Meghan Markle's American Riviera Orchard May Have Fake Followers, PR Expert Claims

Meghan Markle just launched her new business venture, but one expert has claimed it has a major red flag.

On March 14, the Duchess of Sussex debuted American Riviera Orchard, a lifestyle brand. She launched its official Instagram account and website bearing the golden logo written in calligraphy. However, there were no details about the company, including the products it would offer customers.

PR expert Ryan McCormick, co-founder and media relations specialist at Goldman McCormick and former CBS TV producer and editor for Long Island Business News, weighed in on how Markle launched her new business. McCormick said he wasn't impressed.

"From a PR perspective, I don't find the launch of American Riviera Orchard impressive in any capacity. The company's Instagram page has over 518,000 followers. I'm highly suspicious that most of those followers are fake," he told the Mirror.

"Why? Aside from the fact that of a half-million people started following the account in such a short window, they don't show the number of likes on each post. This is a major red flag."

He also pointed out how the users interacting with the post haven't uploaded anything themselves. McCormick felt that the website could still be improved as crucial details about the business were noticeably missing, but it had a sign-up for an email address.

"When you go to American Riviera Orchard's website is there a mission statement, a product line, [or] anything about the company? No," he continued.

"I think Meghan blew a big opportunity here. If she had products ready to do and then got all this attention, sales would probably be healthy."

There are rumors that Markle might collaborate with Kim Kardashian after Prince Harry was spotted with Kris Jenner's boyfriend, Corey Gamble. Also, Kardashian seemingly hinted at siding with the Sussexes when she fueled the rumors about Kate Middleton's disappearance in a post on Instagram.

The "Kardashians" star shared a series of photos on Instagram over the weekend. In one snap, she posed beside her luxury vehicle and captioned it, "On my way to go find Kate."

"I'm in the EU, and I'm certain Kim would much rather be associated with Harry & Meghan than those racists up in the UK. And while she's at it, she'll try to get Meghan into a pair of Skims," one netizen claimed after seeing Kardashian's post.