Does Meghan Markle's story add up? Previous comments from locals cast doubt on Duchess's U-turn explanation

Meghan Markle has revealed a rebrand of her American Riviera Orchard lifestyle collection and explained why she made the decision to change its name to As Ever - but previous reports cast doubt on the Duchess's reasoning. The mother-of-two, 43, took to her new Instagram account which boasts 1.8 million followers, to introduce the new name of her passion project. The mother-of-two claimed that the original name of her brand 'limited' her to ingredients that were made in the area, and explained she instead wanted a broader name; something she claimed she has been working on 'for the past few years'.

The former royal, who now resides in Montecito after leaving the Firm in 2020 with Prince Harry said in the clip: '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 a partner in this show but also as a partner in my business, it was huge.

'So I thought about it and I've been waiting for a moment to share a name I secured in 2022 and this is the moment and it's called As Ever.'. However, Meghan's explanation is at odds with a previous Vanity Fair report about the name; in which residents in the Montecito/Santa Barbara area had never heard of the region being called 'American Riviera Orchard'. Locals spoken to for the story, which analysed the success of the Duke and Duchess's ventures since moving to Montecito, said they were not familiar with the name American Riviera Orchard in connection with where they live.

Meghan Markle has revealed she changed the name of her lifestyle brand from American Riviera Orchard because it was too closely associated with the area in which she lives - but a previous detail casts doubt on her explanation. It comes as the Duchess's cooking show With Love, Meghan (pictured), is set to launch next month on Netflix. Vanity Fair spoke to those connected to Meghan and Harry, including people who had worked with the couple and those who lived in their area to get a sense of their journey five years after leaving the Royal Family.

However, when they interviewed locals about Meghan's lifestyle brand, the magazine stated that 'no one' they spoke to had ever heard Montecito referred to as American Riviera Orchard. 'It's such a kind of hucksterism,' one resident told the outlet. 'It's just finding every way she can to monetise something.'. 'I still think they're the most entitled, disingenuous people on the planet,' they added. 'They moved away from England to get away from the scrutiny of the press, and all they do is try and get in the press in the United States.'.

This is a far cry from the reason Meghan explained in her Instagram video, where she stated that the name limited the direction she could go in and restricted the products she could use to locally-sourced items. On Monday evening, eagle-eyed royal fans spotted a new Shopify website - called As Ever - featuring a brand-new image of the Duchess. But some claimed that they had found a Shopify store American Riviera Orchard, which has since been taken down, with some suggesting it shows that As Ever was rushed through.

Prior to Meghan's announcement, internet sleuths had already discovered a Shopify website she'd set up for her As ever products, featuring an unseen picture of the Duchess cooking. Her new branding features a palm tree, alongside two hummingbirds. Meghan, hand in hand with a child who appears to be her daughter Lilibet, in the cover photo for her new brand's website. The shot is believed to have been taken during Meghan's original ARO promo a year ago.

However, it appears she made a last-minute change about the branding and the previous URL as-ever-store.myshopify.com now takes shoppers to her new website asever.com, which features a picture of Meghan and her daughter, Lilibet. And according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, a trademark application is still pending for the name As Ever. Its launch comes just two weeks before the release of her Netflix show With Love, Meghan, after it was delayed from its original January launch date due to the LA Wildfires.

In what the Sussexes will hope will be a new money-spinner, products will include food such as 'fruit preserves', as Meghan grandly called them today, adding: 'I think we're all clear at this point that jam is my jam'. American Riviera Orchard emerged last year when Meghan began sending jams in limited edition jars to her most famous friends to share on social media, helping its Instagram gain more than half a million followers. But it eventually hit a wall.

In her Instagram clip, Meghan also appeared to take a dig at the royals and the sacrifices Meghan felt she made when she fell in love with her husband, after she had not been able to share her passion for food and home for 'years' after she shut her lifestyle blog The Tig. '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.