Meghan Markle's lifestyle brand, As Ever, has big ambitions. While the shop's first product drop was limited to jam, crêpe mix and a few other fancy store-cupboard items, the Duchess of Sussex clearly isn't planning to stop there. The California-based royal entrepreneur has just dropped a major hint as to her plans in the form of a new trademark application, as reported by The Sun. The new category Meghan is eyeing up? Hospitality, apparently.
The website Trademarkia indicates that As Ever has applied for a Class [043] trademark, which corresponds to "Restaurant and Hotel Services," and for which the description reads: "Hospitality services in the nature of provision of food and drink; Hospitality services in the nature of provision of temporary accommodation."
Essentially, if this move is anything to go by, Meghan could be planning to establish some sort of café or restaurant experience, or even a hotel or B&B. Since Meghan is often compared to Gwyneth Paltrow, it bears noting here that the goop founder recently opened up her home to paying guests via Airbnb — so perhaps we can expect something similar from the Duchess (though don't hold your breath for her Montecito home to be opened up to the public, given the security concerns that would entail).
PR and branding expert Jack Izzard from Gallia Communications commented on Meghan's latest business move while speaking to The Sun. "In terms of positioning, it’s not a million miles from where As Ever is. She is very much positioning herself as a star hostess, Californian royalty who makes her guests feel welcome. The issue she’s potentially going to have is that’s a completely different skill set, running a hospitality business. A night in an 'As Ever B&B' will be several hundred pounds. That’s really going to blow up if it’s bad."
With that in mind, the trademark application could just as well be a proactive measure incase Meghan decides to move into the hospitality industry in the future. Many celebrities and brand owners will often apply for trademarks of this nature to ensure that they have the means to pursue it later down the line, so it doesn't necessarily mean she's planning to make it happen imminently.
As Ever has already applied for trademarks for a number of products and services that it has yet to provide, including education and entertainment, houseware, furniture, leather products, jewellery, paper products, hand tools, and sporting goods. So only time will tell!
