It’s not immediately clear whether Meghan Markle’s international travels ever included a visit to a small, 13th-century town on the Spanish island of Mallorca, but leaders in that town are saying she appears to have copied their community’s traditional coat of arms to use as the logo for her hastily revamped luxury brand, As Ever.
Francisca Mora, the mayor of Porreres, located in the island’s rural heartland, told a local newspaper that the likeness between her town’s coat of harms and Meghan’s new As Ever logo is “surreal,” the Daily Mail reported. Mora also said the town was considering whether to take legal action against the California-based Duchess of Sussex, noting that both logos feature a palm tree with two birds having on either side, the Daily Mail said.
“I don’t know if she visited some agritourism sites and saw the coat of arms, because the photo on her website is taken from Mallorca,” the mayor said, according to the Daily Mail.
Meghan’s home and lifestyle brand is due to be launched in two weeks, along with the release of her highly-anticipated Netflix lifestyle show, “With Love, Meghan” on March 4. Nearly a year ago, the American wife of Prince Harry teased plans to launch jams, olive oil and other food and home products under a brand she was calling American Riviera Orchard. The brand name paid homage to her hometown near Santa Barbara, which is located in a particularly scenic portion of the California coast that’s nicknamed the American Riviera.
But Meghan revealed in an Instagram video Monday that she changed the name of her company to As Ever. On Instagram, she spun the brand name change as her choice, saying that the American Riviera brand would have limited her to just producing items that are “manufactured and grown in this area.” She claimed that she had “secured” the As Ever name in 2022, while also revealing that Netflix wasn’t just a partner in her new show, but in her business, “which is huge.”
“So I thought about it, and I’ve been waiting for a moment to share a name that I had secured in 2022, and this is the moment, and it’s called As Ever,” she said. Meghan said the name “means as it’s always been.” She referred to her former lifestyle blog, The Tig, by saying, “you know I’ve always loved cooking and crafting and gardening.”
“This new chapter is an extension of what has always been my love language, beautifully weaving together everything I cherish — food, gardening, entertaining, thoughtful living, and finding joy in the everyday,” Meghan also said.
Meghan was clearly reluctant to dwell on the fact she has spent the past year dealing with trademark headaches with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office over using the name American Riviera Orchard. As recently as November, Meghan’s brand was hit with a “protest” from Harry and David, the famed Southern Oregon gift-box company, which said that the name American Riviera Orchard was too similar to the trademark given to their “Royal Riviera” brand of pears that it grows and sells during the holidays.
Meghan probably will never say when exactly she decided to dump American Riviera Orchard and go with As Ever, but she said she’s kept the new name “a secret for so long.” The Daily Mail reported that news of her “shambolic” rebrand leaked online at least 24 hours before she made her Instagram announcement.
Now, the Spanish town of Porreres may have an issue with Meghan’s new As Ever logo. If so, it could represent another stumbling block in her effort to launch her company. Of course, it may be difficult to establish how the Porreres coat of arms would have ever come to the attention of Meghan or to whoever designed her new logo. Meanwhile, the Porreres mayor acknowledged that the logo similarities and possible legal dispute could help bring attention to her picturesque town of 5,000, which is becoming a tourist destination in a region known as a local hub for agriculture and wine.
Meanwhile, to observers, Meghan’s announcement about the rebrand seems to be coming at the “11th hour,” even if she says she’s had the rights to the new name for nearly three years.
“You wouldn’t catch Kim Kardashian doing this,” a self-described communications veteran told the Daily Mail, adding that the apparent, last-minute name changed “telegraphed inauthenticity.”
It’s recently been reported that Meghan’s products — whether under the American Riviera Orchard or As Ever moniker — will soon become available at new brick-and-mortar stores that Netflix is opening up in two mega-malls in Pennsylvania and Dallas.
The streaming service announced last June that it would be opening department store-sized “entertainment venues” called Netflix Houses in 2025, at the iconic shopping center in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and at the Galleria in Dallas.
Netflix announced that its Netflix Houses will let people indulge in “immersive experiences” related to their favorite Netflix shows. For example, people will be able to “waltz” to an orchestral cover of a Taylor Swift song on a replica of a “Bridgerton” set or compete in the Glass Bridge challenge from “Squid Games.” The venues also will sell “Stranger Things” merch, such a “that Hellfire Club T-shirt you’ve always wanted.”
The venues also will include cafes that serve food inspired by favorite shows, Netflix said. Presumably, the Duchess of Sussex’s jam could be served or sold at the cafes, along with her olive oil, coffee or tea. Desserts or meals viewers see served on her show could perhaps also be on the cafe menus.
“This is make or break for Meghan,” the source told the Daily Mail about launching her products in the Netflix stores. “Her new show is rolling out the same time as the Netflix stores open.”
