Meghan Markle's lifestyle brand, As Ever, has finally launched, but it comes with a side of controversy.
Image: Eric Charbonneau/Archewell Foundation/Getty Images, As Ever
Meghan Markle has been teasing the launch of her lifestyle brand, now called As Ever, for a while now, and Markle finally revealed its product line earlier this week. But while followers of the Duchess of Sussex are just now learning what her brand will offer, Markle’s fledgling business has already faced its fair share of controversy.
In the spring of 2024, Markle dropped the first hint at a potential business in the form of several artisanal jars of jam sent to various celebrity friends, each branded with the name “American Riviera Orchard.” The next update didn’t arrive until this February, when Markle announced on Instagram that she had scrapped the “American Riviera Orchard” brand for As Ever. Most recently, in a newsletter mailed to subscribers this Monday, Markle offered some insight into As Ever’s first product drop, which launched Wednesday and includes a raspberry spread, wildflower honey, dried flower sprinkles, various teas, and crepe and shortbread mixes.
As Ever’s products went on sale Wednesday, with prices between $9 and $28. No word yet as to whether Markle plans to branch out from food and beverage into other types of lifestyle products. As fans of Markle await these details, fans of the drama are paying attention to several other stories overshadowing As Ever’s launch—including a legal dispute over its logo, concerns about the originality of its new name, and critiques around the tone of its marketing.
Here’s everything you need to know about the drama surrounding As Ever.
The strangest controversy that’s popped up around As Ever has to do with its logo. The brand’s emblem—a white-on-gold line drawing inside an elegant, elongated octagon—features a palm tree bookended by two symmetrical hummingbirds. An anonymous source told Vanity Fair that the brand chose the tree as a reference to Markle’s home in California, while the hummingbirds are a favorite of Markle’s husband, Prince Harry.
But some outside viewers have been skeptical of the inspiration behind the design. Critics noted that the design looked oddly similar to the historic coat of arms used by Porreres, a small town in Majorca, Spain, since the 1400s. In an interview with The Sun in February, the mayor of Porreres, Francisca Mora Veny, said she was considering legal action against As Ever for the logo (though she went on to admit that she may not be able to afford such a challenge).
The As Ever logo (left) and the Porreres coat of arms (right)
Image: File
“We don’t want our coat of arms to be perverted,” Veny said, adding, “The only difference with their logo and our coat of arms is that theirs shows two hummingbirds and ours are either swallows or pigeons—historians cannot agree.” In a further statement to the publication El País, she said, “It’s a total copy.”
So far, it’s unclear whether Veny has reached out directly to Markle, or whether she plans to move forward with a legal dispute.
The change of brand name from “American Riviera Orchard” to “As Ever” has also drawn some unwanted attention to Markle’s business.
In her Instagram announcement video, Markle shared that she originally chose “American Riviera” to represent her neighborhood, Santa Barbara, but she found that the title would limit her business to selling items that were manufactured and grown in the area. So, she explained in the video, she opted instead for “As Ever,” a name that she claimed was secured in 2022.
Based on an application filed to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Markle’s team submitted a request for the As Ever trademark on September 17, 2024. Per the document, the application had been approved by the examining attorney but had not yet been published as of March 26.
Since Markle announced the name change back in February, at least two businesses of the same name have come forward to express their surprise. The first is a New York-based clothing brand called As Ever, run by owner Mark Kolski since 2017. Kolski told Vanity Fair that he was surprised not to have received advance notice about Markle’s brand, but that he didn’t plan to make any changes to his own business or to take action against Markle.
“If they had intentions of making clothes out of the gate then it could have been a problem,” Kolski said. “They’re choosing not to make clothing at this time, but that could change. I have no interest in having any public forum battle against this new venture. That’s not who I am.”
Jen Corbett, owner of the company As Ever Photography, has taken a similar stance to Kolski. In an initial Instagram post reacting to Markle’s branding, she wrote, “When one of the most famous people in the world starts using your biz name of 12+ years (that you named in honor of your grandmother), seems like they could throw me a lil bone?” However, that post has since been deleted, and Corbett has posted a follow-up story to clarify that, “I had a bit of fun posting about Meghan Markle using my biz name, but I am in no way interested in hate mongering against her.”
Aside from its branding, As Ever is also drawing some backlash for the tone of its marketing.
On As Ever’s new website, a message to fans notes, “As Ever is more than a brand—it’s a love language.” And in her newsletter sent to fans this week, Markle explained that her raspberry spread’s “keepsake packaging” could be repurposed to hold “love notes” or “special treasures.”
In response to that suggestion, Margaret Hartmann, senior editor at The New Yorker, quipped that Markle’s latest “big idea” is “rinsing and reusing jam jars.” It’s a jab that builds on commentary surrounding Markle’s Netflix show, With Love, Meghan, which was widely criticized for presenting an out-of-touch look at Markle’s privileged life in Montecito (one particularly harsh review from The Guardian labeled it “toe-curlingly unlovable.”)
It’s difficult to fully cast judgment on Markle’s new brand, considering that its products just dropped. Is a delicious homemade jam on shortbread cookies enough to make the internet forget about As Ever’s seemingly never-ending brand woes? We’re about to find out.
