Feb. 21, 2025

Did Meghan Markle mess up As Ever?

Show Notes
Transcript

Oh my, The Duchess of Sussex finds herself at the centre of yet another branding controversy, as the mayoress of Porreres, a small town in Mallorca, has accused Meghan Markle’s new lifestyle brand, *As Ever*, of “copying” their historic coat of arms.

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Calorouga Shark Media, Hello and welcome to Palace Intriguga. Post Francis,

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the Duchess of Sussex, finds herself at the center of

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yet another branding controversy, as the mayress of Pereras, a

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small town in Majorca, has accused Megan Michael's new lifestyle

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brand as Ever of copying their historic coat of arms.

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The logo in question, featuring a palm tree in two birds,

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bears a remarkable resemblance to Perera's own emblem, which dates

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back to thirteen seventy. Shuske More, of the town's mares,

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described the situation as surreal, telling l Pay that while

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a lossit would be prohibitively expensive for the town. They

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are formally calling for the logo to be changed to

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sue for plagiarism is complicated and costly, and a small

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town council like ols is not in a position to

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fight against the English Crown, she said. For her part,

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Meghan has presented the design as a personal nod to

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her family's California home, incorporating elements significant to the Sussexes.

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Prince Harry is particularly fond of Hummingbird's. Reports suggest that

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a thorough trademark search was conducted before the launch. Further

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adding to the intrigue, the maress pointed out that Meghan's

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first product, a jar of jam, also bears an uncanny

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link to Perras, which prides itself on producing what Mara

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calls the best jam in the world. While stressing that

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legal action is unlikely, she playfully invited the Duchess to

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visit and perhaps even hosts the town's patron Saints festival, adding,

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the farmers will be happy if Megan wants to market

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our jam. But wait, there's more. A New York based

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vintage clothing brand of the same name has now weighed

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in on the situation, making it clear that they are

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not affiliated with the Duchess's new lifestyle brand. The small business,

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run by husband and wife team Mark Kolski and Astid Dahl,

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has been operating under the as Ever name since twenty fifteen,

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officially launching in twenty seventeen. In the wake of the

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media storm surrounding Meghan's announcement, they took to Instagram to

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acknowledge the surge of attention, writing wow and hello. In

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the last thirty six hours, there has been an outpouring

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of support and concern regarding recent events around our namesake brand.

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We are aware, we are not affiliated. While the post

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remained diplomatic, it carries a subtle warning affirming that they

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will continue promoting their brand as they always have. We

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will continue as ever. In the Telegraph, Hannah Ferness writes

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under the headline it seems Megan is still blaming the

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royals for her woes. Duchess relaunches her new brand, complete

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with dubious In the motive backstory, as Ever, Hannah tells

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us the Duchess of Sussex has been seemingly prevented from

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sharing her true loves of cooking, crafting and gardening with

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the will for the past few years. She says, I

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haven't been able to share it with you in the

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same way. She does not use the words because of

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the royal family, but anyone familiar with the Sussex law

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is likely to hear it as such. Never Mind that

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the Duchess produced a best selling cookbook while a working

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member of the royal family, that the King is one

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of the most famous gardeners in the world, or that

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the Sussexes have been free of royal duties for a

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full five years now, not to mention Hgrove has its

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own range of produce, or that princes, princesses and duchesses

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are invited to try their hand at some form of

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arts and crafts in half the royal engagements they do.

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During her Instagram video, the joy and relief in the

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Duchess's voice about being able to finally share her passions

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as clear now, she says, I can. In the short

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self filmed edit, the Duchess crouches and what appears to

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be a Montecito vegetable patch to address her fans directly.

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It also features the obligatory inclusion of the Duke telling

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his wife that her camera is on before leaving. Her

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original idea American Riviera Orchid sounded like a great name,

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but limited me to things that were just manufactured and

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grown in this area. As such, she claims she is

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changing her mind to go back to her real roots.

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There is no mention of the fact that American Riviera

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Orchard ran into such extensive copyright issues that it had

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to be completely reimagined or dropped. No mention of the

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fact that the Duchess has already soft launched its first product,

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a website and a social media campaign and that this

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is a complete about turn in her plans. In fact,

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she intimates it is what she wanted all along, Just

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as Elizabeth I suggested. Recollections may vary compared with the

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Sussex's account of their time in her family, so too

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may those who have worked on the Duchess's more recent projects.

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The video includes giggles over a lot of public curiosity

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about her fledgling business, although she does not explain how

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it came to her attention. While she famously does not

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listen to the noise, the expressions and gesture that the

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Duchess's followers are coming to know and love her all

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there the half whisper, the hand on forehead in a

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difficult moment. The influencer style sign off thanks guys. As ever,

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when said in Britain, lends itself too easily to jokes.

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Already people are inserting their own adjectives into as blank

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as ever, or adding it as an easy punchline to

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the Duke and Duchess's latest escapades. The Sussexes are rebranding,

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as ever? Was that a dig at the royal family?

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As Ever? In The Daily Mail, Richard Eden writes as

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John Cleese said of the dead parrot in the classic

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Monty Python sketch, the company has ceased to be It's

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expired and gone to meet its maker. Eden points out

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this week's embarrassing u turn over the Duchess's hastily named

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lifestyle brand has come as little surprise to some of

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the royal officials who had to work with her after

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she became engaged to Harry in twenty seventeen. One insider

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told Eden, this is further evidence of what we've seen

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time and again with Megan. She doesn't like to take advice.

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I'm sure she would have been advised that it was

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better not to launch her company until everything had been

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thought through carefully. Megan was offered so much advice and

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support after she moved to Britain, including from the late Queen,

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but most of it she ignored. Palace entry will be

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a ride back. Footage has emerged showing the decapitated head

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of Norburne's King George the Fifth Statue being set a

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light on a barbecue during an Australian Day protest, reigniting

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debate over the vandalism of colonial monuments in the country.

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The head, which had been missing since June of twenty

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twenty three, appeared in an Instagram video shared by activist

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groups Whistleblowers, Activists and Communities Alliance and Disrupt Wars. The

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footage depicted the statue's head engulfed in flames on a

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barbecue with an Australian flag in the background. The post

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was captured cooking with the King and included hashtags such

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as hashtag Invasion Day, hashtag not our King. A note

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accompanying the footage, sent anonymously to Disrupt Wars stated we

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will barbecue a monarch every year on January twenty sixth

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until Australia Day is abolished hashtag not my King, the

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colony will fall. The statue, located in Melbourne's King's Domain

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on lineleth Gow Avenue, was first vandalized on June tenth,

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during the King's Birthday holiday. At the time, police confirmed

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that the head had been removed and red paint thrown

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at the monument. Despite ongoing investigations, authorities had been unable

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to locate the missing peace until now. Melbourne's Lord Mayor

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Nick Reese condemned the act and confirmed that the city

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was working with police to retrieve the statue's remains. The

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damage to the King George the Fifth Statue was extensive

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and it is not a simple restoration. Ways to restore

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this statue are still being investigated, he said, adding that

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such acts of vandalism come at a cost to rate

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payers as specialists must be engaged to repair the damage.

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The statue itself remains standing headless while authorities assess the

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next steps for its restoration. And there you have it.

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Fact to email us or addresses the Palace Intrigue at

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Did Meghan Markle mess up As Ever?

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