After her Spotify disaster – is Meghan about to bring back The Tig? Duchess pays for paperwork to restart lifestyle blog she paused for her brief time as a working royal
- Duchess of Sussex to reboot lifestyle blog The Tig which she abandoned in 2017
- She applied to trademark name in November at US Patent and Trademark Office
- READ MORE: Harry & Meghan set up to fail at Spotify as source blames ‘red tape’
She was criticised by a Hollywood bigwig as ‘not a great audio talent’ after her Spotify series was cancelled, so it’s no surprise to learn that Meghan Markle is planning to retreat to more familiar territory.
I can reveal the Duchess of Sussex’s lifestyle blog The Tig – which she abandoned in 2017 as she prepared to marry Prince Harry – is set to make a comeback this autumn.
After applying to trademark the blog in November last year, The Tig has now been issued with a so-called Notice of Allowance document by the US Patent and Trademark Office, as no other company has contested it being trademarked.
Now all that is left to do is for Meghan, 42, to provide a statement of use, which proves the blog is up and running, to get the trademark fully registered.
Thanks to the six-month timeframe on providing this document, Meghan will have to get this all done by October or pay for a further six-month extension.
REVAMPED: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attends the Invictus Games at Zuiderpark in April 2022 in The Hague, Netherlands
Meghan pictured on her Tig lifestyle blog website on New Year’s Day in 2016
The Duchess of Sussex ‘s lifestyle blog The Tig – which she abandoned in 2017 as she prepared to marry Prince Harry – is set to make a comeback this autumn
She was criticised by a Hollywood bigwig as ‘not a great audio talent’ after her Spotify series was cancelled, so it’s no surprise to learn that Meghan Markle (pictured) is planning to retreat to more familiar territory
The application to relaunch the blog, which Meghan marketed as a ‘hub for the discerning palate’, was first filed in July 2021 by LA lawyer Marjorie Witter Norman but hit a snag when Meghan failed to sign the trademark application.
READ MORE: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were ‘given no formal lay of the land’ and set up to fail with Spotify as Archetypes source blames ‘too much red tape’ for £18m deal failing
Documents show The Tig will include interior design, travel and – perhaps to the horror of the Royal Family – ‘commentary in the field of personal relationships’.
Meghan set up the site in 2014 while an actress on legal drama Suits and named it in honour of her favourite Italian wine, Tignanello. She closed the site in 2017.
Jeremy Zimmer, the boss of United Talent Agency, criticised Meghan in June, saying: ‘Turns out Meghan Markle was not a great audio talent, or necessarily any kind of talent.’
Last week, it was revealed Netflix paid £3 million for the film rights to a romantic novel called Meet Me At The Lake that Meghan and Prince Harry will produce.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex bought the rights to the romantic novel Meet Me At The Lake by Carley Fortune, which experts estimate could have cost them up to £3million.
New York Times bestselling author Fortune’s second novel is a romance about two long-lost lovers, Will and Fern, whose paths cross by chance a decade after first meeting and sparks fly between the pair.
The book has just the right formula to bring in millions for Netflix, film expert and founder of Movie Metropolis Adam Brannon said last week.
And insiders claimed earlier this month that Prince Harry and Meghan’s Spotify deal ended early because there was too much ‘red tape’ and they were ‘given no formal lay of the land’ which set them up to fail.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s lucrative Spotify project was dramatically pulled after they produced one 12-episode podcast and a festive special over three years.
The couple also reportedly did not produce enough content to receive the full pay-out from the reported £18million deal they signed after stepping down as senior working royals.
But an Archetypes production source claimed Harry and Meghan had ‘a lot of ideas and did pitch them’ – although the project was delayed by huge amounts of red tape between the two parties and ‘things moved very slowly on both ends’.
It was reported the source said last week: ‘They were given no formal lay of the land to kick things off, so they were already on unsteady footing even before the ink was dry.’
Sources close to the duchess were also at pains to say that she was looking to take her Archetypes series to another streaming platform
During its 12-episode run, Meghan’s podcast featured an array of high-profile guests including Mindy Kaling (pictured) – who was interviewed in-person by the Duchess – and Mariah Carey
Another source close to the Sussexes told People magazine that they were being held to a higher standard than others, and had ‘plenty of things that are in different phases’.
They told the publication: ‘Very few other production companies are measured by what’s actually hit the airwaves.’
They noted that the royal life ‘wasn’t a world they wanted for their family’ and that their subsequent career choices reflected that.
Joe Quenqua, a senior media strategist, told the magazine that the couple’s brand Archwell had suffered from ‘serious growing pains’ while a royal insider said ‘there wasn’t necessarily a five-year-plan’ when Harry and Meghan left the UK for the US in early 2020.
The defence of the royal couple’s podcast episode ideas follow claims in June that Harry suggested interviewing Russian president Vladimir Putin about his ‘childhood traumas’.
In brainstorming sessions, he apparently came up with the idea of speaking to ex-US President Donald Trump and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg about their formative years and how those experiences made them the adults they are today.
The initial 2020 announcement from Spotify referred to both Harry and Meghan producing and hosting multiple ‘podcasts’.
But Meghan completed just one, on the social stereotypes around women in 2022, as well as one joint half-hour Christmas edition in 2020 featuring a group of celebrity friends and their son, Archie.
The couple also faced an attack from fellow Spotify podcaster and senior executive at the company, Bill Simmons, who blasted them as ‘grifters’.
While industry ‘sources’ blasted the Duchess for faking several interviews on her show.
The supposed insiders claimed that Meghan had staff members on the show conduct interview with her guests, before audio of her voice was edited into the final episodes.
The podcast-focused outlet Podnews said ‘multiple sources’ have claimed that ‘some interviews on the show were done by other staffers, with questions edited-in afterwards’.
The site, however, did not highlight specific episodes where this might have applied.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Netflix movie could be a huge hit for the platform, an expert has said
Carley Fortune’s second novel Meet Me At The Lake has captivated the Sussexes
In a joint emailed statement, Spotify and Archewell Audio, Meghan and Harry’s production company, said in June that they ‘have mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together.’
Sources close to the duchess were also at pains to say that she was looking to take her Archetypes series to another streaming platform.
Following the news that the Spotify deal had been cancelled, rumours circulated the couple’s £80million Netflix deal, signed in 2020, could meet the same fate.
But the streaming platform spoke out in support of the couple, with a Netflix spokesman saying: ‘The bond with Archewell Productions is one we deeply value. Our exciting journey with them isn’t ending any time soon.’
Questions still remain over what is next for the Duke and Duchess but in June experts suggested Meghan could become one of the highest paid influencers in the world, receiving £200,000 per post to endorse brands.
The Duchess did not respond to requests for comment.
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