In March, Meghan Markle returned to Instagram to tease her new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, but it has yet to make it to market despite the months-long wait.
According to biographer Angela Levin, the Duchess of Sussex is scrambling to find staff for her company.
"She is very upset about what is happening with this American Orchard Rivera, [and] she is not happy about how it has been received. The jam was a bit of a laughing stock, she sent it off to about fifty friends and only a few replied," Levin told GB News.
"Everyone said that she is in a jam. It is not moving forward. She has had a lot of trouble finding a CEO to run it for her and she is having a lot of trouble finding a chef. Some of them have gone along to see how it is but they say she is so meticulous about everything," she continued. “She's so demanding and they don't really want that. These are chefs who have good jobs, and they're not people who are learning."
The former Suits star is expected to pull inspiration from Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop, but Levin thinks she's struggling to manage being an entrepreneur.
"So it's a bit of a stalemate, but she has got 150 things on her link, and she's applied for a global patent," Levin explained. "Some of the things [she will be selling] are fabric gift wraps, cocktail napkins, meditation maps, pillows for household pets, a whole range of things from A to Z."
"We'll have to see how she gets on. I think she's she's finding it much more difficult than she thought," she shared. "I think she thought she would sail in and everybody would think it was wonderful, which I think she does a lot about herself. But actually it's jolly hard work."
A source close to Meghan made it clear that she invested a lot of time into the project.
"Meghan finds the name American Riviera Orchard perfect. It feels authentic to her," the source told a magazine. "She can't wait for the website to launch. She is excited about her latest, personal venture."
"This is something she's been wanting to do for a while. She is excited to share her style and things that she loves," they added.
OK! previously reported Kinsey Schofield hinted at Meghan's business being unaligned with her initial plan.
“I believe she's trying to build an empire. I don't know if that’s what she was going to do originally when she left the British royal family," Schofield told GB News.
Never miss a story — sign up for the OK! newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what OK! has to offer. It’s gossip too good to wait for!
When Meghan and Prince Harry first left the royal fold, the couple announced they would dedicate their life to philanthropy.
“Remember, they told us that she was going to be living a life of service," Schofield said. "Polling-wise, this has been very difficultfor the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. People in the States have an issue with them."
“Did they have to go down this path, basically using Netflix to create content to kind of try to build this empire of gardening and what's going on in the kitchen, but also giving Netflix ultimately what they want, which is that reality show element," the podcaster stated.
Insiders spoke to People.