Just weeks before Meghan Markle releases her delayed Netflix series, she has renamed her lifestyle brand.
On Tuesday, the Duchess of Sussex took to Instagram and announced that American Riviera Orchard is now called As Ever. She also unveiled a new website for As Ever, which features her 3-year-old daughter, Princess Lilibet.
British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard described the royal’s latest launch as “cringeworthy” after the 43-year-old reportedly faced a series of trademark woes to get her brand out to the public.
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“Featuring her children in her work is the inevitable cute touch that she can also control,” said Chard. “You have to applaud her tenacity.”
“[But] Meghan hasn’t stepped away from her self-induced drama,” Chard claimed. “She seems to be stuck in a revolving door of inauthentic, contrived, and, on occasion, cringeworthy behavior. Unfortunately, it doesn’t lend itself well to people buying into her brand.”
Similarly, royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams pointed out to Fox News Digital that Meghan was forced to change the name of her lifestyle brand after American Riviera Orchard “was held up for months over trademark issues.”
“When unveiling it, Lilibet appears, which is rare,” he said. “When an adult is covering up a mistake, why not use a child to divert attention? We rarely get a sight of the Sussex children… She comes across as charmless and sycophantic. I wouldn’t believe anyone I didn’t trust if they confided in me, and I certainly don’t trust her.”
Last September, the mother of two suffered a professional setback when the U.S. patent and trademark office refused the application for American Riviera Orchard, The Telegraph reported.
According to the outlet, the office warned that businesses could not trademark geographical locations, noting that American Riviera was a “common nickname” for Santa Barbara, where the former American actress resides. The addition of the word “Orchard” made “little difference.”
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The outlet also warned that the descriptions of the duchess’s products could fit into multiple trademark categories.
At the time, the 43-year-old’s team said the pushback was “routine and expected.” However, her issues didn’t end there.
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Food and gift retailer Harry & David filed a protest against American Riviera Orchard in October, the New York Post reported. According to the outlet, they claimed that the name was too similar to their “Royal Riviera” product line.
In November, the outlet reported that the “Suits” alum’s legal team requested a three-month extension in an attempt to secure a trademark. The U.K.’s Independent reported that the duchess attempted to trademark the brand over the summer. However, it was rejected due to issues with how it was filed.
Doug Eldridge, a branding expert and the founder of Achilles PR, told Fox News Digital it’s expected for any new brand to experience pushback with trademarks. However, he also pointed out such legal entanglements can “sometimes take years to correct and often require costly litigation.”
“Cutting ties and renaming the line altogether might have proven to be the most expedient solution for Meghan,” he said.
A source told the U.K.’s Express that Meghan’s team was considering a name change, similar to how Kim Kardashian was forced to change her shapewear line from Kimono to Skims after being accused of cultural appropriation.
“The team is thinking of backups as we speak just in case,” the source told the outlet. “They’ve been put into a bit of a last-minute spin, but they’re not too worried because they are aware that Kim K also changed her brand name after launch, and it still did amazingly well.”
Meghan said that she secured “As Ever” in 2022, hinting that she may have had backup names already in place.
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“It’s hard to say whether the name change is a sign of early troubles, but I can say this – it doesn’t happen very often, especially before a brand formally launches, and it isn’t necessarily a positive indicator of things to come,” said Eldridge.
“Establishing brand identity is one of the earliest and most important hurdles to clear with any brand launch; changing the name, image, or likeness, when the ship is barely out of port, only serves to complicate the process.
“That said, Meghan’s celebrity – whether perceived positively or negatively – provides a level of visibility and coverage that other startups would not enjoy. As such, this hiccup and the media attention surrounding it, provide an unintended, but positive, spotlight on the new name and the forthcoming launch.”
Meghan said that she originally wanted the brand’s name to be a sweet homage to her home.
“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,” she said.
Chard said she wasn’t surprised Meghan went for a new “non-descript” name for her brand. In her announcement, Meghan said Netflix is not just “my partner in the show” but also “my partner in my business.”
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“She has trademark issues with the previous name and an awful lot of negativity attached to the name,” said Chard. “… Meghan is excited and championing the name change… [It’s] as if she is running away from the negativity with the thought that if she quickly rebrands everything, something positive will land… It’s either the Meghan way or the highway.”
British royals expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital that a rebranding appears to hint at “failure, bad judgment, or both.”
“They failed to surround themselves with proper teams with proper expertise,” she claimed. “Every move they make is… commercial, tacky and undermines the value of any royal touch.”
Eldridge said Meghan’s biggest obstacle won’t be clarifying a name – it’s making her mark in an already crowded lifestyle industry.
“You’ve got to remember… People will seek out As Ever – or not – simply because it is Meghan’s product,” he said. “… ‘Meghan the Mom’ would undoubtedly be better received by the consumer public than her previous stints as an actress, author, or member of the royal family.”
In her announcement, Meghan described that her new company is an extension of her former lifestyle blog, The Tig.
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“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,” she said. “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.”
“Of course, there will be fruit preserves; I think we’re all clear at this point that jam is my jam,” she joked. “But there are so many more products that I just love, and now it’s time to share them with you. So I just can’t wait for you to see it.”
Meghan launched The Tig in 2014 while starring in “Suits.” She shut down the site in 2017 while she was dating Prince Harry. The couple married in 2018 and moved to California in 2020.
Her Netflix show, “With Love, Meghan,” will premiere March 4.
