Meghan Markle’s As Ever brand logo sparks plagiarism row as Spanish town considers legal action

MONTECITO, CALIFORNIA: Meghan Markle has found herself in a plagiarism row after a sleepy Spanish town revealed they are considering legal action against the Duchess of Sussex over similarities between her brand logo and their coat of arms. 

As reported by Daily Mail, the 43-year-old duchess’ latest endeavor in rebranding her erstwhile American Riviera Orchard as As Ever is on the verge of hitting a roadblock owing to its new logo. 

The outlet revealed that the civic heads of the Spanish town of Porreres, Mallorca, are reportedly accusing the duchess of using inspiration from their traditional coat of arms to create the logo of her newly relaunched brand, adding they are considering pursuing the matter in legal terms.

Meghan Markle’s As Ever logo bears similarity to Porreres' coat of arms

The logo of Meghan Markle’s As Ever brand features a palm tree with two birds hovering on either side of it. Curiously, the Spanish town’s coat of arms too features a similar image. 

However, the images are not exactly similar, as while the duchess’ design has two hummingbirds, Porrores has two pigeons on its logo. Moreover, the color schemes are distinctly different with a simple dichromatic scheme for the duchess and a vibrant colorful one for the town’s logo. 

The town’s mayor, Francisca Mora, nevertheless, pointed out the similarities, while sharing with the local newspaper Ara Balears that the likeness is “surreal". She added that the town hall has been discussing whether they would be taking any legal action against the duchess owing to the similarities. 

“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,” shared Mora. 

She, however, added that the small town now “feels international,” adding that she hoped it would bring some sort of international recognition to the off-beat tourist destination. 

“I hope many people around the world will become aware that in Mallorca there is an inland town that has this coat of arms,” added Mora during the interview. 

The mayor further told The Sun, “We don’t want our coat of arms to be perverted because it belongs exclusively to Porreres.”

Pointing out the difference, she shared, “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,” told Mayor Mora to the outlet.

Porrores is a quaint medieval town founded in the 13th century and is 22 miles to the east of Mallorca's capital of Palma. Located in the middle of the Balearic Island's rural heartland, the town boasts a population of just over 5,000. 

Meghan Markle presumbly made last-minute rebranding decision

As reported by the outlet, Meghan Markle presumably made a last-minute decision about the rebranding. She recently debuted her new website with a picture of her and Princess Lilibet frolicking around a lush green lawn on her website’s landing page. 

Speaking to Daily Mail, one branding expert said, “It appears to have been a total rush - despite what Meghan says about As Ever going back to 2022.”

They added, “They've clearly had to abandon American Riviera Orchard but recycle all the promos due to the trademark dispute. The leak happened yesterday and you have to wonder if her hand was forced.”

The former ‘Suits’ actress announced via Instagram on Tuesday that she had rebranded her lifestyle company American Riviera Orchard to As Ever.

“Last year, I had thought, ‘You know what? 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,” she explained in a video.

“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 added.