Meghan's Mallorcan brand battle
The Duchess of Sussex has relaunched her lifestyle business after trademark problems, but one Spanish town isn't happy
“You can’t make an omelette without cracking eggs,” is the saying and Meghan has certainly had to scramble, after her brand, American Riviera Orchard hit a trademark dead-end. This week, the Duchess of Sussex announced she was re-branding her business, As Ever. It comes on the eve of the launch of her postponed show, With Love, Meghan, which will air on Netflix on March 4.
Meghan launched American Riviera Orchard – which, if we’re honest, did seem a bit of a mouthful – last year, sending jars of jam to her celeb mates, on Instagram. But late last year, it was denied its trademark, because it refers to a specific geographical area around Santa Barbara.
Down, but not out, Meghan did a U-turn and re-named her business, posting a mood board to social media to show her inspo, which included so many positive affirmations such as, “Happiness looks gorgeous on you”, they could chill every resident in the UK; plus phrases about eggs. Cracking stuff.
“The cat’s out of the bag! I’m shocked we’ve kept this a secret for so long,” Meghan posted on an Instagram video. “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. Last year, I had thought, American Riviera – that sounds like such a great name. It’s my neighbourhood, it’s a nickname for Santa Barbara, but it limited me to things that were just manufactured and grown in this area. Then Netflix came on, not just as my partner in the show but as my partner in my business, which was 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.”
Meghan also explained she was returning to what she did best, with her old lifestyle blog The Tig, which she ran pre-Prince Harry. “As Ever essentially means as it’s always been, and if you’ve followed me since 2014 with The Tig, you know I’ve always loved cooking and crafting and gardening – this is what I do. And I haven’t been able to share it with you in the same way for the past few years, but now I can – so, as things are starting to trickle out there, I wanted you to hear it from me first.”
To be fair, Meghan does get an incredible amount of bad press every time she sneezes, so wishing her well with her venture. However, her new brand has already hit some branding hurdles, as the logo - a palm tree with birds – looks, similar to, of all places, the Mallorcan town of Porreres. And its mayor is not happy. Francisca Mora Veny told The Sun, “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. We will ask Meghan to remove the logo from their website.” Mierda.
Next came the disgruntled New York clothing business also called As Ever, with founder Mark Kolski posting on social media following the Duchess’s announcement, “Just a royally scandalous run-of-the-mill Tuesday … 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.”
Camilla hosts theatre pals
We love how Camilla is so enthusiastic about the arts. On Tuesday she hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace for the National Theatre, where she hung out with everyone from Andrew Garfield and Cate Blanchett, to Imelda Staunton and Lesley Manville, who played the late Queen and Princess Margaret in The Crown. Camilla wore an Anna Valentine dress and Faberge sapphire earrings. She took over as patron for the National Theatre, after Meghan and the late Queen.
On Wednesday, the Queen will be back at Buckingham Palace hosting one of her – and our - favourite events, the final of the BBC 500 Words kids’ writing competition.
Guess the royal artist!
The arty genes are strong in the Wales family. Catherine shared these delightful drawings by George, Charlotte, Louis and herself on Instagram this week, leaving us all guessing who did whom? No spoilers from Kensington Palace either, as it was left up to us to work out who had done each portrait, and of whom.
The general consensus is: Louis did the bold red portrait, Charlotte drew the colourful lady with yellow eyeshadow. Catherine sketched Louis sleeping, and budding artist George did the line drawing of his mum. The pictures were released to promote the work of the Princess of Wales’s Early Childhood Shaping Us Framework initiative.
“Drawing portraits with children can provide a moment of connection as you spend time looking at and focusing on one another, as well as being creative and – most importantly – having lots of fun together,” said Catherine.
Looks like George (remember his Xmas 2022 reindeer!), Charlotte and Louise have inherited their artistic talent from their mum (who has a history of art degree), and Charles, who is a lifelong accomplished artist, having raised more than £2 million for good causes from the sale of his watercolours.
Charles honours frontline heroes
In these challenging times, it’s heartening to see the Royal Family recognising and honouring the good people in the world, and this week Charles awarded the first-ever Humanitarian Medals at Buckingham Palace.
The medal, first announced in January 2025, were awarded to those in public service and members of humanitarian organisations, such as charities, who respond in support of human welfare during or in the aftermath of a crisis. This includes providing disaster relief or aid provision in hazardous circumstances such as conflict zones.
The government’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the new medal “recognises the incredible dedication and selfless service of individuals on the frontline of the UK’s responses to some of the world’s most devastating crises”.
Kate and William head for Wales
Like many in the UK, the Prince and Princess of Wales will be returning to work tomorrow after spending schools’ half term break on holiday. They were in Mustique, the royals’ favourite love island, but interrupted their family time in the Caribbean to confirm that this Wednesday they will be in Pontypridd, Wales, ahead of St David’s Day on Saturday.
As part of their day trip they’ll help to prepare a batch of traditional Welsh cakes at The Welsh Cake Shop. Mmmm… yummy Welsh cakes! Here’s a recipe shared by Charles and Camilla back in 2015, so you can make your own and celebrate St David’s Day. Da iawn, as they say in Pontypridd (FYI: that’s Welsh for ‘very good’).