Smiling in the face of a storm

Meghan spotted in Canadian hideaway – as legal papers reveal looming court battle

THE Duchess of Sussex has moved her company to a US state famous for providing secrecy to the super-rich.

When she was an actress, Meghan used her firm Frim Fram to run her lifestyle blog, The Tig, which she billed as a ‘hub for the discerning palate’.

She shut down The Tig in 017 before she became engaged to Prince Harry, but renewed the trademark last September. Palace officials say she did it to stop others misusing the name – but she could now relaunch it.

On December 30, Frim Fram ceased to be registered in California and was effectively reconstituted in Delaware. The move appears to indicate that Meghan will soon be focusing on earning money.

It is also significant because Delaware has a reputation as ‘the Switzerland of the US’ – a state that guarantees levels of corporate secrecy unheard of in the rest of the country.

Registering a company in Delaware does not require the disclosure of the owners’ identities and all financial information relating to the company is kept confidential. Alan Stachura, of

US financial services firm Wolters Kluwer, which helps companies incorporate in Delaware, suggested that the timing of the move could be significant. He told the Daily Telegraph: ‘You would want to do it on New Year’s Eve... if you go one minute into the next year you would owe some taxes to California for 0 0.

‘It could be a double whammy depending on what the cost of those taxes are. Typically the expectation would be that taxes would be higher in California than Delaware.’

In the past, Meghan was listed as Frim Fram’s president while her business manager Andrew Meyer and lawyer Rick Genow also held nominal positions in the company.

Any money she made endorsing fashion or beauty products as a TV actress would be dwarfed by what she could earn now as a Royal Family member. Insiders claim Meghan has no plans to return to acting. She is, however, said to be interested in producing – or possibly presenting – films and TV programmes.