Publications
You’ve got to hand it to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle – they’re certainly not resting on their laurels.
Over the past few months the couple have been busily laying the groundwork for their new independent life away from their former duties with the Firm. They’ve already got a number of income streams set up since stepping down as senior royals over a year ago.
They signed million-dollar deals with Netflix and Spotify in recent months, and last month it was announced that Harry had got two new jobs: one as the chief impact officer at BetterUp, a mental health start-up company based in Silicon Valley, and the other as a member of the Aspen Institute which seeks to combat misinformation in America.
Now it seems they could be expanding into other industries.
If their neighbours in the plush Californian community of Montecito are to be believed, the pair are tipped to embark on yet another business enterprise: winemakers, à la Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The Jolie-Pitts have produced an award-winning Château Miraval rosé wine.
Meghan is known to be a big wine fan, having named her old lifestyle blog The Tig after her favourite red wine.
Telling the story of the first time she tasted Tignanello, the 39-year-old former Hollywood actress wrote: “So there I am, with very minimal wine knowledge and I take a sip of this wine.
“It wasn't just red or white – suddenly I understood what people meant by the body, legs, structure of wine. It was an ah-ha moment at its finest.
“For me, it became a 'Tig' moment – a moment of getting it. From that point on, any new awareness, any new discovery or 'ohhhhh, I get it!' moment was a 'Tig' moment.”
She and Harry (36) even served a Californian red wine – Domaine Eden pinot noir - at their May 2018 wedding at Windsor Castle.
Penny Bianchi, who lives next door to Oprah Winfrey and down the road from the Sussexes, said it would be "really cool" if the couple launched a wine business.
She says the duke and the duchess could even build the winery on their $14,5-million mansion’s plot.
“I’ve got a bunch of friends who have wineries. I even know a couple of people who have vineyards on their own properties. It seems to be a very popular thing to do around here so I wouldn't be surprised if Harry and Meghan did the same.
“Montecito has so many great things to speak of and the wine industry is one of them.”
Santa Barbara winemaker Greg Martellotto also weighed in on the speculation.
“I think it would be fantastic if Harry and Meghan get involved with our industry,” he said.
“They are global people with name recognition around the world who could go anywhere but they came to Santa Barbara and I think that in and of itself says a lot.”
And David DeLaski, who runs Solminer winery in Santa Barbara County with his wife, Anna, said the climate is the ideal place to grow grapes, adding that Harry and Meghan would "fit into" the industry there.
“Lots of people have success in other businesses and decide they want to come and spend money in wine country on a new venture,” David added.
“You just need $10 million and you're good to go, which I guess for Harry and Meghan is no problem.”
The Sussexes won’t be the first celebrities to invest in wineries in the California region. Film stars like Emilio Estevez and Drew Barrymore as well as singers Pink and Fergie all boast their own brands of Californian vino.
Sources: dailymail.co.uk, express.co.uk, mirror.co.uk, herald.co.nz, hauteliving.com
