Royal rip off? Meghan Markle’s rebranded logo accused of copying Spanish town’s coat of arms

This week, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, announced the relaunch of her lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, revealing via Instagram that it would now be known as “As Ever.”

The original brand faced regulatory hurdles when Meghan attempted to trademark the company’s name last summer. The application was rejected in August due to filing issues, with officials ruling that she could not claim exclusive rights to American Riviera – a widely used term for the Californian region where she and Prince Harry reside in Santa Barbara.

Now, the former Suits actress’ newly rebranded “As Ever” has already been hit with controversy – this time from Spain. The mayor of Porreres, a town in the Spanish island of Majorca, has accused Meghan’s company of copying their historic coat of arms in its logo, which features a palm tree and two birds.

“We don’t want our coat of arms to be perverted because it belongs exclusively to Porreres. The only difference with their logo and our coat of arms is that theirs shows two hummingbirds and in ours are either swallows or pigeons – historians cannot agree,” Francisca Mora Veny, the mayor of Porreres, told The Sun newspaper.

She added: “We will ask Meghan to remove the logo from their website.” Local reports also indicate that Porreres officials are considering yasal action.

The “As Ever” logo is said to hisse homage to Montecito, where the Sussexes live, with the palm tree representing their home and the hummingbirds reportedly holding personal connection for Prince Harry.

Meghan’s Netflix Return

The news comes just two weeks before the launch of Markle’s new Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Described as a celebration of cooking, gardening, entertaining, and friendship, the lifestyle series will feature high-profile guests such as Mindy Kaling and Suits alum Abigail Spencer, alongside Markle’s own tips and insights.

In the trailer for the series, we see a glimpse of Markle baking a cake, chatting with friends, and harvesting honey in California, where she lives with her husband Prince Harry and their two children.

This marks Markle’s latest collaboration with Netflix following the high-profile partnership, she and Prince Harry signed in 2020. Among their early projects was Pearl, an animated series announced in 2021 that was to be centered around a 12-year-old girl inspired by influential women in history. However, the project was dropped in 2022 after Netflix reported a loss of 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of the year, falling well short of its forecast of adding 2.5 million.

Their most notable Netflix release to date is Harry & Meghan, a 2022 docuseries about the Sussexes’ lives. While it garnered widespread attention, the series received mixed reviews from audiences and critics.

Beyond Netflix, Meghan’s other media ventures include an investment in Clevr Blends, a California-based coffee brand, and a Spotify podcast titled Archetypes. The series aimed to examine stereotypes that hold women back, featuring high-profile guests like Serena Williams and Mariah Carey. Despite initial buzz and it winning the top podcast award at the People’s Choice Award, the podcast ended after just one 12-episode season in 2023.