Meghan Markle plunged into ANOTHER ‘copycat’ row as writer spots ‘striking similarities’ between her book & Netflix show
MEGHAN Markle is embroiled in another plagiarism row after a British author alleged “striking similarities” between the royal’s proposed kids TV show and her own work.
The Duchess of Sussex, 43, was listed as an executive producer, alongside Sir Elton John‘s husband David Furnish, on Netflix animated series Pearl – announced in July 2021.
The show was a key title in the $100million deal Meghan and Prince Harry struck with the streaming service after stepping down as working royals.
It was described as telling the story of a young girl as “she learns to step into her power and finds inspiration from influential women throughout history“.
However, it was eventually axed less than a year later and Meghan quickly binned any mention of it from her production company Archewell’s website.
Writer and illustrator Mel Elliott, from Hastings, claims she sent a legal letter to the non-profit company and streaming service alleging possible infringement of copyright in relation to her own character Pearl Power.
The letter, sent soon after the announcement of the series, said the two works’ similarities “appear to be too many and too striking to be mere coincidence”.
It added “there is a risk” that the project “may infringe intellectual property rights”.
The 51-year-old also sent two personal letters to Archewell in October 2021 and February 2022 asking for updates.
By the time Pearl was announced, Ms Elliott had already published three Pearl Power books, starting in 2014.
It comes after Pamela Anderson fans accused Meghan of “copying” her Cooking With Love show with her own Netflix cookery programme With Love Meghan – released last month.
And in February, the mayoress of Porres in Majorca complained the logo for the Duchess’ lifestyle brand, As Ever, resembled her town’s historic coat of arms.
The Sun previously compiled a list of seven times, in fact, that Meghan has been accused of being a “copycat“.
Ms Elliott told the Daily Mail: “Meghan is a feminist who sticks up for other women, so I was disappointed and confused to see how similar Netflix’s proposed show ‘Pearl’ was to my own Pearl Power who had been created seven years earlier.
“Of course, I can’t know if anyone on her team had seen it and been inspired by it, but the similarities were too great for me to ignore.
“The world of arts and media are very competitive and I’m afraid it’s quite common for powerful to people to rip off the work of less well-known creatives – although I’m not saying that’s what happened here.”
She added that what “saddened” her the most was having brought the possible issue to the attention of Netflix and Archewell “my objection was never acknowledged”.
The third entry into the Pearl Power series, released in 2016, became a major success and was translated into multiple languages.
The Sun has approached Meghan’s reps and Netflix for comment.
Seven times Meghan Markle faced ‘copycat’ claims – from ‘rip-off’ speech to Netflix show & mimicking Gwyneth Paltrow
By Thea Jacobs
MEGHAN Markle is never short of big, bold ideas, but sometimes you might feel like you’ve seen them before.
In February, the Duchess of Sussex, 43, relaunched her American Riviera Orchard lifestyle brand and revealed its new name, As Ever – only to be accused of copying her logo from a small Majorcan town.
The design features a palm tree with two birds, one either side, and is remarkably similar to the coat of arms of Porreres on the Spanish island.
The town’s mayor, Francisca Mora Veny, was considering taking legal action against the royal and has asked Meghan to remove the logo.
Ms Mora told The Sun: “We don’t want our coat of arms to be perverted because it belongs exclusively to Porreres.
“The only difference with their logo and our coat of arms is that theirs shows two hummingbirds and in ours are either swallows or pigeons — historians cannot agree.
“We will ask Meghan to remove the logo from their website.”
The duchess has yet to respond to the comments. It is understood the logo was designed with a palm tree as a nod to the couple’s home in Montecito, while the two hummingbirds are said to be a favourite of Prince Harry’s.
But it’s not the first time she has come under fire for seemingly copying others.
Same As Ever
In another “plagiarism” row to hit her rebrand, Meghan has come under fire from a shop owner whose store has been called ‘As Ever’ for years.
The New York company posted about their concerns for the future of their line on social media, thanking customers for sticking by them.
While designer and owner Mark Kolaski doesn’t have the name trademarked, he believes he has common law rights to sell clothing using it since he has been doing business as “As Ever” since 2017.
Mark exclusively told The Sun: “I’m a very small business, it’s a family-run operation. I’m essentially a one man band.
“This new venture has the power and money of Netflix behind it.
“Even if I wanted to do something I don’t think I have the behemoth of lawyers and money that are behind this.”
Goops!
When Meghan initially launched her new lifestyle brand last year, after leaving the royal family, fans were quick to notice the promo for American Riviera Orchard was very similar to Goop by Gwyneth Paltrow.
The short promotional video featured Meghan cooking a chicken, which might have been a nod to how Prince Harry proposed, with lemons and other ingredients in the foreground.
One viewer commented: “She’s totally copying one of Gwyneth Paltrow’s early Goop videos — the roasted chicken one.”
A second user @SluethyGoosey added: “Omg lemons and all!”
The brand, which has been renamed As Ever, will feature tips from cooking to gardening and “finding joy”.
She referenced that it would be similar to her defunct lifestyle blog The Tig.
Kitchen nightmare
Earlier this year, the Duchess announced her new Netflix show, With Love, Meghan.
It was quickly put under fire when fans noted that recipes and hobbies showcased in the series didn’t appear to be original ideas.
Viewers were quick to compare her to Emma Weymouth, Marchioness of Bath and her show, Emma’s Kitchen.
In particular, they thought the format looked like a very similar setup to the cooking show, which was established in 2015.
One viewer wrote: “Why is Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex trying to channel Emma Thynn, Marchioness of Bath?
“TBH, Emma seems more natural while Meghan often seems like she’s acting from a script. I think Meghan should focus strictly on charity work.”
Another tweeted similar still images from each show side by side, writing: “Emma Weymouth, Marchioness of Bath, has had a cooking programme at Longleat estate for nine years!”
Meghan was also criticised for showcasing her love of beekeeping, a hobby that Kate Middleton has spoken about previously.
No kidding
Back in 2021, Meghan decided to make the classic celebrity foray into children’s books.
She released The Bench, which is about the special relationship between a father and his son.
Meghan claimed it was inspired by seeing Prince Harry’s bond with their son Archie, who was two years old when it was published.
But shortly after it was announced, she came under fire for copying 2018 kids book The Boy On The Bench by British author Corrinne Averiss.
However, Corrinne hit back at the allegations and said that the books were not the same.
She tweeted: “Reading the description and published excerpt of the Duchess’s new book, this is not the same story or the same theme as The Boy on the Bench. I don’t see any similarities.”
Corrinne’s book focuses on a young boy who can’t see a space for him in the playground while sitting on a bench with his dad.
Cover to cover
Before announcing Megxit in January 2020, one of Meghan’s last projects while a working member of the royal family was guest-editing Vogue.
She opted to focus the cover of the September 2019 issue on “Forces for Change” which featured 15 black and white photos of influential women.
She received a lot of praise for the issue, but quickly it became apparent there were similarities to a book she had been involved in called The Game Changers.
Like the Vogue cover, the book, which was published three years prior, features black and white portraits of influential women, including the duchess, on the cover.
One of the authors, Samantha Brett, told the Daily Mail: “It’s obviously very flattering, she obviously likes our concept!
“I love Meghan and am a huge fan, but if what people are alerting us to is true, then it’s extremely disappointing.”
People were quick to point out other similarities between the magazine and book.
One wrote on social media: “It’s not just the cover either; Royal officials said the Vogue issue featured ‘trailblazing change-makers united by their fearlessness’
“A publicity blurb for The Game Changers from 2016 said it was about ‘fearless, trailblazing’ women who were changing the world.”
Spot the difference
As part of their new lives after leaving the UK, Meghan and Harry signed a $20million, multi-year deal with Spotify to make podcasts.
While the deal quickly turned sour, Meghan did release her Archetypes podcast which lasted for 12 episodes.
In a blurb for the podcast, it claims it “investigates, dissects, and subverts the labels that try to hold women back”.
It also said the series would “speak with historians and experts to uncover the origin of these stereotypes and have uncensored conversations with women who know all too well how these typecasts shape our narrative”.
Not long after the first episode came out, people were quick to point out she appeared to have copied a book called Archetypes: Who Are You.
The writer, Caroline Myss, says the book looks at the ten types of archetypes that have appeared in today’s society.
“My guess is Meghan read this book and copied her entire podcast idea from it,” one commented.
The podcast was dropped after just one series.
Taking the mic
Even before Meghan became a member of the British Royal Family, she appeared to be looking to others for inspiration.
In her speech for International Women’s Day at the UN in 2015, she was accused of lifting whole chunks from one delivered by former First Lady of the United States Eleanor Roosevelt.
She finished off her speech saying: “It isn’t enough to talk about equality. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.”
Decades earlier, Eleanor had used the exact same wording to discuss the need for peace.
The original quote was: “It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.”