Meghan Markle has been accused of copying a small Mallorcan town’s coat of arms in her rebrand, but the village’s mayor confessed they can’t afford to sue her.
The Duchess of Sussex announced the relaunch of her lifestyle business on Monday after running into difficulties with American Riviera Orchard’s trademarking.
The brand is now named As Ever. She also introduced a new logo for the company comprised of a palm tree with two hummingbirds flapping their wings on either side of it.
However, a small Mallorcan village, Porreres, in Spain is now hitting back at Meghan’s logo, over similarities with the town’s official symbol. Porreres’ coat of arms also features a palm tree, with two swallows on each side.
Speaking to El País, the mayor of the municipality, Xisca Mora, claimed that As Ever’s logo “is a total copy” of Porreres’ coat of arms. On Tuesday, Mora also met with the legal service of the City Council to discuss the next steps to handle the situation.
However, she confessed that Porreres does not have the financial backing to sue Meghan over the logo.
“Reporting plagiarism is complicated and expensive and a small town hall like ours is not in a position to fight against the English crown,” she explained.
Mora said she plans to ask Meghan’s company to remove the logo as the design has been a meaningful symbol for Porreres since 1370. The mayor also noted that their coat of arms has been carved into many different buildings in the small town.
During a separate interview with MailOnline, Mora shared how stunned she was to discover that Meghan’s logo was so similar.
“We are still a bit shocked, we thought it was fake news at first, we didn’t know what was happening,” Mora said. “Then loads of newspapers and media started calling us and we realized it was serious.”
She once again expressed how the similarities between the two designs are “undeniable.” Mora acknowledged that while the birds and colors on each design are different, the two things are still “nearly identical.”
Speaking to The Independent, a representative for Meghan and her husband, Prince Harry, defended her brand’s decision to use the logo.
“The logo incorporates a palm tree as a nod to The Duke and Duchess’ home in California, along with two hummingbirds — a favorite of Prince Harry’s,” they said in the statement. “The distinct shape enclosing the birds and tree was intentionally designed to create a unique and personal emblem. As part of the process, comprehensive global searches of registered trademarks were conducted.”
Along with the logo, the name of Meghan’s brand has also made headlines. On Tuesday, a clothing brand based in New York City, also called As Ever, spoke out to clarify that it was not affiliated with the Duchess’ company.
“In the last 36 hours there has been an outpouring of support and concern regarding recent events around our namesake brand. We are aware. We are not affiliated,” the company’s owner, Mark Kolski, wrote in the post’s caption
Kolski later revealed in an interview with The U.S. Sun that while he does not own the trademark to the name As Ever, he is still “exploring all possibilities” since he has sold clothing under that name since 2017.
“This new venture has the power and money of Netflix behind it,” he told the outlet. “Even if I wanted to do something I don’t think I have the behemoth of lawyers and money that are behind this.”
When announcing her rebrand ahead of the launch of her new Netflix lifestyle show, With Love, Meghan, the Duchess filmed herself in her family’s garden. Her husband, Prince Harry, could be heard saying “It’s recording” in the background, as Meghan announced that “the cat’s out of the bag.”
“I’m shocked we’ve kept this a secret for so long. In two weeks my show is coming out, which I’m so excited for. And also my business, which I think there has been a lot of curiosity about,” she said. “Last year, I had thought, ‘American Riviera, that sounds like such a great name.’ It’s my neighborhood; it’s a nickname for Santa Barbara, but it limited me to things that were just manufactured and grown in this area.”
Previously, the Duchess experienced issues regulating American Riviera Orchard as she sought to trademark the brand in the summer of 2024, which was rejected in August due to issues with how it was filed.
She was told she cannot have exclusive rights to the name ‘American Riviera’ because it’s a commonly used place name to describe where she and Harry live in Santa Barbara. The addition of the word ‘Orchard’ reportedly made little difference to this dispute.
Meghan was given three months to address errors and challenges to the application and in November she asked for a three-month extension. The Sussexes’ office said that these setbacks were “routine and expected” when filing for trademarks.
