Meghan Markle's brand compared to King Charles's key venture

Meghan Markle’s new brand has been compared to King Charles’s key venture – but an expert has noted one major difference.

The 43-year-old took to Instagram last week to share that her brand’s new name is ‘As Ever’ – a stark difference from its previous name, American Riviera Orchard.

Meghan said that her brand will launch alongside her new Netflix series, With Love, Meghan – which will air on the popular streaming service on March 4.

Speaking about whether Meghan, who stepped down as a senior working royal alongside Prince Harry in 2020, could have still launched her brand if she had remained as a working member of the Royal Family, royal correspondent Jennie Bond suggested that this is unclear.

She told the Mirror: “It’s hard to say whether she would eventually have been allowed to do this sort of thing if she had remained in the Royal Family. You could compare it with Charles‘s Highgrove shop.”

Noting that there is a major difference between As Ever and the King’s venture, Ms Bond added: “But the crucial difference is that all the profits from Highgrove – the garden tours and the shop – go to his charitable foundation.

“If Meghan had been willing to donate all proceeds from her website to charity, then it might have been possible. But I think it’s unlikely that she would have wanted that.”

Products sold at the Highgrove Shop include food and drink, bath and body products and jewellery – and even a toiletry bag named after the former Prince of Wales.

Taking to her Instagram account, Meghan shared a video where to spoke to her now more than two million followers.

With Prince Harry letting it known he is behind the camera by telling his wife that “it’s recording”, Meghan takes the camera to share: “Cats out of the bag, I’m shocked we’ve kept it a secret for so long…”

Discussing her name change, she said: “Last year, I thought you know what, American Riviera, that sounds like such a great name, it’s my neighbourhood [and] its a name 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 my partner in the show [With Love, Meghan] but as my partner in business. It was huge.”‘