The mayor of a quaint Spanish town has admitted that it simply doesn’t have the funds to sue Meghan Markle over her new business venture’s logo.
The Duchess of Sussex, 43, this week unveiled the new name of her new lifestyle brand, As Ever, revealing that she dropped the initial American Riviera Orchard moniker.
However, it shortly emerged that As Ever’s logo looks near-identical to the Mallorcan village of Porreres’ traditional coat of arms, which dates back to 1370.
After making the unwelcome discovery, Xisca Mora, mayor of Porreres, said the “Suits” alum’s logo is an “exact copy” of the town’s historic emblem and said she hopes Markle will consider making the change.
Still, Mora added that if the former working royal doesn’t change her company’s logo, suing Markle for plagiarism isn’t a viable option for the town as it’s “complicated and costly.”
“To sue for plagiarism is complicated and costly, and a small town council like ours is not in a position to fight against the English crown,” Mora told local news outlet El País.
Both designs feature a single palm tree with two hummingbirds hovering on either side of it.
The mayor emphasized that the coat of arms represents “part of the idiosyncrasy of Porreres, of its heritage and cultural identity.”
“Every single town in Mallorca has its own symbol or coat of arms, and it is very important to our identity, and people are upset that ours is being used to sell products like jam around the world,” she said.
“The truth is that although this has given our once-unknown town some publicity in just a few hours, we don’t like our coat of arms being used, we want them to pull the logo.”
“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,” Mora added.
However, a source familiar with the situation told The Post, “The logo incorporates a palm tree as a nod to The Duke and Duchess’ home in California, along with two hummingbirds — a favorite of Prince Harry’s.”
“The distinct shape enclosing the birds and tree was intentionally designed to create a unique and personal emblem. As part of the process, comprehensive global searches of registered trademarks were conducted,” the insider added.
Earlier this week, Mora admitted that the town is “still a bit shocked” at the striking similarities.
“All jokes aside, we really want them to change the logo because our coat of arms is very special to our culture and has been linked to our town since it was founded hundreds of years ago,” Mora told the Daily Mail.
“We are still a bit shocked, we thought it was fake news at first, we didn’t know what was happening.”
“Then loads of newspapers and media started calling us and we realized it was serious,” added Mora, whose town boasts a population of roughly 5,000 people and is about 22 miles away from Mallorca’s capital of Palma.
“They are the same, except the birds are a little different and they used different colors, but they are nearly identical,” she added of the designs.
It’s no secret that Markle’s Montecito, Calif., neighborhood is home to many palm trees, meanwhile, Prince Harry previously revealed the special meaning hummingbirds have to the couple.
In his 2023 memoir, “Spare,” the duke reminisced on getting a visit from a hummingbird shortly after the death of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
“Soon after our return, a hummingbird got into the house,” the former working royal wrote. “I had a devil of a time guiding it out, and the thought occurred that maybe we should start shutting the doors, despite those heavenly ocean breezes.”
“Then a mate said: Could be a sign, you know? Visitors, as it were. Aztecs thought them reincarnated warriors. Spanish explorers called them ‘resurrection birds.’”
It comes after an independent NYC clothing brand named As Ever detailed its concerns following Markle’s rebrand.
