Meghan Markle Reacts to ‘Suits L.A.’ & Branding Controversy

Meghan Markle is gracing the new issue of People magazine!

In the issue, Markle discussed her lifestyle brand As Ever, which was originally called American Rivera Orchard.

Markle had to rename her brand due to copyright issues.

She told the magazine, “There are tons of twists and turns — even with the name. I was figuring it out in real time.” 

Acknowledging the hoopla surrounding her brand, Markle said, “I appreciate everyone who gave me the grace to make mistakes and figure it out and also to be forgiving with myself through that. It’s a learning curve.”

After years away from Instagram, Meghan is back on the social media platform, thanks to her brand.

She noted, “I see myself as an entrepreneur and a female founder and if the brand ends up influential, then that’s great.”

Ten years ago, Meghan launched a blog called The Tig, which focused on food, travel, and wellness. 

In 2017, Markle decided to shut down The Tig when she got engaged to Prince Harry. 

She reflected, “Well, I loved The Tig, but I certainly love my husband more. So that was a choice I made at the time, and I wouldn’t change that for a second.”

Meghan is now putting the love that she had for The Tig into As Ever and her Netflix show “With Love, Meghan.”

She pointed out, “My husband met me when I had The Tig, and I see this spark in his eye when he sees me doing the thing that I was doing when he first met me.”

“It’s almost like a honeymoon period again,” she emphasized, “because it’s exactly how it was in the beginning when he’d watch me scribbling away, writing newsletters, fine-tuning edits and just really being in the details of it. I think he loves watching as much as I love doing that creative process. It’s just been fun. This is who I’ve always been.”

When Meghan was dating Harry, she was playing Rachel Zane on “Suits,” which was on the air for nine seasons. The show has been brought back to life with “Suits L.A.”

While it is unclear if she’ll ever reprise her role, Markle is all for the show! She said, “I love that it gets a new breath of fresh air.”

The couple stepped away from their royal duties in 2020, but they haven’t given up their royal titles. The Duchess of Sussex pointed out, “It’s our shared name as a family, and I guess I hadn’t recognized how meaningful that would be to me until we had children. I love that that is something that Archie, Lili, H and I all have together. It means a lot to me.”

Meghan also clarified on her Netflix show that she is going by Meghan Sussex now. She tells Mindy Kaling in episode 2 that she's not using Markle anymore. “You have kids and you go, ‘No, I share my name with my children.' I didn’t know how meaningful that would be to me, but it just means so much to go, this is our family name, our little family name,” she said.

Meanwhile, Harry and Meghan have now settled in Montecito, California, thousands of miles away from England. 

Meghan opened up to People about their life together in the affluent town, home to big names like Oprah Winfrey, Katy Perry and Adam Levine, saying, “Once you know us, I think you want us to have the same normalcy as parents and for our children as they do, despite however unique our situation is.”

Despite the media frenzy surrounding their relationship, they try to keep it as normal as possible. She added, “We go to a lot of dinners, and not just in people’s homes or private rooms; we just go into the restaurant. I really love that we can just have fun.” 

Harry and Meghan are the parents of son Archie and daughter Lilibet, who are now 5 and 3.

 She shares, "When your children get to a certain age — when you’re not just playing in the sandbox with them but almost playing in your own sandbox again — it’s super joyful."

The landing page for her brand's site features a photo of Meghan hand-in-hand with Lilibet, and the choice was very meaningful for the Duchess of Sussex.

She says, “Being able to have my own little girl, as I’ve spent so much of my life championing the rights of girls and women, and to be able to see this as a multigenerational story — Archie is of course included in that, my husband is of course included in that — but I love the heritage feeling of it and knowing this is something that I can create in front of my daughter and teach her what it’s like to be a working mom." Meghan adds, "This is something that hopefully can be part of her legacy too.”

Of her daily morning routine, she shared, “I’m up before my kids are, so I’m normally up at 6:30, and then I get them up and dressed for the day, and we go downstairs. I love making breakfast for my family.”

Markle opted to film her Netflix series at a location similar to their home. She explained, “I wanted to protect that safe haven. We’re a close-knit family, and I love those moments — putting Lili down for a nap, having lunch together, having sacred time together at the end of the day. Our kitchen is where Mama just cooks for the family, and with a crew of 80-plus people, that’s a lot of people to have in your house!”

While Meghan was filming, Harry and their kids would come visit. She dished, “They would also come with my husband and visit me on-set, and I loved that my children were able to watch me working and see the balance of that and understand what Mama does and is working to create and share. It was really special because up until then, they hadn’t seen me at work.”

She emphasized, “I hope that when they get old enough, they feel really proud that they were part of the beginning of this with me.”

When asked where she sees herself in 10 years, Markle answered, “Can you imagine? This is just the beginning. Life is full of surprises. And my gosh, in 10 years, Archie will be driving!”