Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were severely criticised by royal experts over the timing of their latest move which coincided with Princess Kate’s first public appearance after months at Trooping the Colour.

The Princess of Wales warmed the hearts of the nation last Saturday when she appeared alongside the rest of the royals to celebrate King Charles’s second official birthday after she announced her attendance and gave a health update the day before.

But just hours before Kate’s reappearance, Nacho Figueras, a polo player and friend of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex posted pictures of the latest products he got sent from Meghan’s new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard – a jar of raspberry jam and dog biscuits.

Now another group of royal experts has slammed the timing of the move, dubbing it “clumsy” and “embarrassing” – with one suggesting that Meghan is to blame.

The Mail‘s Diary editor Richard Eden told the Palace Confidential: “The problem with their [Harry and Meghan’s] marketing strategy, is that Meghan’s done these publicity stunts essentially, where she sent out goods and encouraged friends and influencers to post about them. But you never know when they’re going to do it or what they’re going to say, so it’s completely out of your control.

“Yes you get good publicity when they ‘I’ve got Meghan’s jam’ but it’s very embarrassing if it’s just before Catherine’s reappearance at Trooping.”

Meanwhile, the outlet’s royal editor Rebecca English, branded the move “clumsy” and claimed the communication between Montecito and Buckingham Palace as well as Kensington Palace is now non-existent.

She said: “It is clumsy. You can’t expect them to have known that that announcement was coming because people don’t tell them things, because they don’t trust them.

“So I don’t think they would have known, but again it just shows how Queen Elizabeth was so very wise in saying ‘You can’t have a half-in half-out job”.

Meghan Markle soft launched her latest business venture earlier this year by landing a new Instagram page for the brand, as well as a website with a waiting list for it.

Since March, the only update on American Riviera Orchard was the debut of the first product to be sold under the brand’s name, a jar of strawberry jam, given to 50 influencers to taste test, and most recently the reveal of her jar of raspberry jam and dog biscuits.

Meanwhile, questions regarding the brand’s official launch have been increasing recently, with one royal commentator even claiming the duchess has delayed the launch because she is struggling to staff her new business.