Meghan Markle’s social media blitz has continued with a significant nod to Prince Harry’s mother Princess Diana.
The Duchess of Sussex has filmed herself walking around her garden in Montecito wearing a purple Northwestern sweater made famous by her late mother-in-law.
Meghan, 43, smiles in sunglasses in a sepia-tinged reel that features her husband and children and is captioned: ‘A small break from work to soak in the weekend sunshine’.
One of her children is heard saying ‘mummy, I can do it if you want me to’ before Meghan shows either Lilibet of Archie watering plants with a hose. Harry giggles while his wife finishes making a sparkling cocktail using an orange from their grounds.
The Duchess of Sussex’s purple college sweater appears to exactly match the one Harry’s mother wore regularly in public in 1996 – the year before her death.
Princess Diana was gifted the jumper when she visited Northwestern’s Evanston campus in 1995 to raise money for the University’s Robert H. Lurie Cancer Center.
It appears that the purple sweater may have been limited edition and is not available on Northwestern’s website. It has been named the ‘Princess Diana Sweatshirt’ and is sold on sites such as Etsy and eBay. It is not known what happened to Diana’s own one, but there was speculation on social media that it could even be the same one.
Meghan was a double major in theatre and international studies at Northwestern in Illinois, graduating in 2003.
After leaving the college she moved back to her hometown, LA, to pursue a career as an actress, landing various movie and small screen roles such as Deal or No Deal before getting her big break – being cast as Rachel Zane in the smash hit legal drama Suits.
She then walked away from acting when she met Harry in Toronto and fell in love.
Meghan’s latest sun-soaked video appears to feature her children watering their garden.
The Duchess, who does not speak, also picks citrus from a tree and then squeezes it into a cocktail as music plays and Harry is heard in the background.
There is also footage of her trees with blossom growing to show the start of spring.
And their surviving beagle dog is shown running around on the lawn as is a pond sparkling in the sun with lily pads at the centre.
The Sussexes’ adopted a nine year-old dog two years ago from a group of dogs rescued from the facility in the US. They named her Mamma Mia, or Mia for short. In January she said she was “devastated” following the death of her dog other beagle, Guy.
The new Instagram video comes just over a week before Meghan’s Netflix show ‘With Love, Meghan’, is released worldwide on March 4.
And its title about taking a break from work also reflects how she has relaunched her American Riviera Orchard brand after trademark problems in the US.
But it almost immediately hit bumps in the road with her beleaguered lifestyle venture after a small business with a nearly identical name has vowed to protect its brand and title.
Mark Kolski, the designer and owner of New York vintage clothing studio ‘As Ever NYC’ said he has been left ‘reeling’ from the news that the Duchess of Sussex has decided to relaunch her ‘American Riviera Orchard’ company under the same name as his own clothing label.
The independent clothing company – based in New York and New Jersey – sells one of a kind, reworked vintage clothing under the label ‘As Ever NYC’, which can be seen prominently displayed on its website and social media accounts.
Speaking to DailyMail.com in the wake of Meghan’s announcement, Kolski confirmed he is now ‘getting advice from as many professionals in the (legal) field’ as he could.
Kolski, a former advertising executive and restaurateur, said that ‘it’s easy to see there’s confusion (between) the brands.’
‘I have been made aware of it since early [Monday] morning. I was not aware before. We don’t have any affiliation with Meghan Markle,’ he added.
‘At this time based on all the legal advice I’m getting it’s best to say no direct comment.’
Kolski revealed that no one from Meghan’s team had reached out to consult him before she publicly announced her rebrand last Monday – and that he only found out about it after friends contacted him.
‘I’m still reeling and evaluating from the attention this is getting to me,’ he told DailyMail.com.
‘I’m speaking to a lot of people. I’m a very small brand, I’ve had a lot of reach, which I’m grateful for.
‘I’ve been contacted by a lot of people. I’m not actively signed up with legal representation but I’m trying to get advice from as many professionals in the (legal) field to find out to do to protect myself.
‘There’s a lot of attention coming at me from many people who have ideas and opinions about what Meghan Markle is doing’.
While the trademark for Meghan’s As Ever does not mention clothing, As Ever NYC has a similar aesthetic meaning that consumers could be confused between the two.
The Instagram page for Kolski’s studio even features some of the crisp white shirts that the Duchess is fond of wearing.
Last Tuesday, Kolski’s company took to Instagram to address the ‘recent events’ and thank everyone for their ‘outpouring of support’.
‘I want to say thank you to all the old friends who know and love our small family brand As Ever, and also say hi to all those that have just become aware we exist,’ Kolski wrote.
‘In the last 36 hours there has been an outpouring of support and concern regarding recent events around our namesake brand. We are aware. We are not affiliated.’
Kolski explained that he started the venture back in 2015 but became official two years later in 2017.
‘It’s 2025. We are grateful to still be here making clothing in New York & New Jersey.
‘We are grateful for all the customers coast to coast and world wide that have supported our venture. We will continue As Ever,’ he added.
The post has since received hundreds of messages from followers, friends, and customers throwing their support behind the small business.
The brand’s account has also reposted Instagram stories from supporters who appeared to be sending a not-so-subtle message to Meghan by describing Kolski’s As Ever brand as ‘the one and only.’
Meghan’s surprise brand name change, which comes just two weeks before the launch of her Netflix TV show, titled ‘With Love, Meghan’ and her range of lifestyle products, came after an objection to her previous name, American Riviera Orchard.
The owners of Royal Riviera, which makes similar products to those the Duchess plans to sell, filed a letter with the US Trademark office saying there was a risk of confusion between the brands.
In a post on Instagram, Meghan claimed that the name change was because it limited her to using products from the area around her home in Santa Barbara, which is known as the ‘American Riviera’.
She also claimed to have ‘secured’ the name ‘As Ever’ in 2022 but public records paint a different story.
In 2022, Meghan’s representatives set up a company called ‘2022 Trademarks LLC’ in Delaware.
However Meghan only put in the application for the trademark ‘As Ever’ in September last year.
The following day a company was set up in Delaware called ‘As Ever Enterprises LLC’, which appears to be related to it.
Yet As Ever LLC, Kolski’s company, was set up in 2017 in New York state – he is based in Brooklyn – and is the top hit on Google when the term is searched for, raising further questions about why the Duchess didn’t spot it.
In its complaint to the US Trademark office, Harry and David, the 90-year-old gift order company which owns the brand Royal Riviera, said American Riviera Orchard was too similar to its own brand.
The trademark was given to brothers Harry and David Rosenberg for the pears they grew at their father’s orchard in Oregon in 1941.
The ‘protest’ letter was deemed to be ‘relevant’ and was sent to the trademark office’s examining lawyer because of the ‘likelihood of confusion’ between the two.
In another blow to the Duchess, the trademark office had previously told Meghan that American Riviera Orchard was too vague and gave her three months to clarify it.