Hang on, have I just become a Meghan Markle influencer?

Put down the kibble, Fido, there’s a new biscuit in town. This weekend the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s friend Nacho Figueras – known to some as the David Beckham of polo – shared on his Instagram a jar of raspberry jam and a jar of dog biscuits. No, not the spoils from a trip to the corner shop, but apparently the latest items in Meghan’s American Riviera Orchard lifestyle brand, due to launch later this year.

First, came the strawberry jam. In April, she sent special jars to 50 of her closest A-list pals, including Chrissy Teigen, Mindy Kaling and Kris Jenner, along with baskets of lemons.

The jars’ homey cream and muslin styling was in contrast to the gold-embossed Sussexes’ monogram on every label, along with the Duchess’s flamboyant, loopy cursive to indicate where you ranked, whether you were 1 of 50 or in social Siberia as a disappointing 50 of 50.

Figueras’s raspberry jam – labelled “2 of 2”, so much more exclusive than the comparatively mass-market strawberry – was accompanied by a large glass jar of dog biscuits (lemons are so last spring), with an artfully rusted lid and a frayed cream bow. It looks like what would have happened if Laura Ingalls Wilder opened a concession in Bloomingdale’s.

These treats hint at what else may be to come, with the impending commercial launch (I cannot hear the name of the brand without thinking of Trump’s “Person, Woman, Man, Camera, TV” word scramble) later in the year.

Included in the products listed in her trademark applications are dog treats, cosmetics, home décor, yoga equipment, condiments, gardening accessories, tableware and stationary – essentially your basic #housewifecore starter kit.

Of course, it’s easy to laugh isn’t it, at the idea of Guy, Pula and Mia, the Sussexes’ dogs, being rewarded for sitting, staying and curtseying with organic, biodynamic reindeer chews (other flavours also available, probably)? But let she who is without dehydrator cast the first bone.

A few years ago, I started cooking for my dogs. I’m a food writer, and if I love you, I cook for you. And I really, really love my two dogs, Barney and Gracie. Barney is now 17 and a half and though he’s slowing down, he’s in remarkably good health for his age, so I must be doing something right.

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When I started on this dog chef adventure, it was in part because I’d started to read about the lack of regulation governing the production of commercial dog food. So much of the widely available tinned food and kibble has a low meat content and is crammed with cheap fillers such as corn and wheat, which have limited nutritional value for dogs and in large quantities can be harmful.

I remembered the dogs of my childhood, who more or less existed on table scraps, cheap bits of meat and free bones from the butcher. They lived long, healthy, happy lives, seemingly unaffected by the many skin complaints and digestive problems that trouble so many dogs today.

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I’d always made simple dog biscuits for my dogs, and for their friends. Every year, my daily dog walking pack of humans and hounds had a Christmas party in our local park and I would take sausage rolls for the humans, carrot and parsley bones for the dogs. The breath-freshening bones (thank you, parsley) were my gateway treat.

Shortly after I started making these, I bought a cheap dehydrator from Argos and began drying slices of apple and sweet potato for them, along with bits of chicken, lamb and beef. Then, if I was making some slow-cooked lamb or beef for us, I’d make an extra batch for the dogs, without the things that would be harmful to them, such as onions and salt.

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I read up on canine nutrition, and was inspired by my friend, dog behaviourist and owner of Darling Dog Company, Louise Glazebrook, who said, “They allow you to take a human baby home from the hospital after a day or two and trust you to feed it, but we don’t trust people to work out how to feed their dogs?”

Eventually, I wrote a whole book about cooking for your dog – complete with recipes, and I was inundated with emails and social media messages from people who were also trying to give their dogs a more natural diet and starting to notice health and behavioural improvements.

After several years of this, I thought I was the dog treat influencer, but I see there’s a new top dog in town. I’m happy to lead where Meghan Markle follows. The time has come to pass on the mantle. It is well-used, but clean and suitable for monogramming.

‘Dogs’ Dinners: The healthy, happy way to feed your dog’ by Debora Robertson is published by Pavilion