Contrary to widespread assumptions, Meghan Markle, the 41-year-old Duchess of Sussex, may not have been personally conducting interviews for her podcast, 'Archetypes'. A recent report from Podnews suggests that several of these dialogues were carried out by members of Meghan's staff, with her voice later edited into the recordings.
This surprising revelation comes after rumors sparked in August 2022 when author Allison Yarrow posted a photo outside audio production house Gimlet Media, thanking an 'Archetypes' producer for being an "excellent interviewer."
The disclosure coincides with reports that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who moved to California in 2020, were cut from Spotify's roster earlier in June.
Sahar Elhabashi, Spotify's head of podcast business, announced the restructuring in a public statement: "We have made the difficult but necessary decision to make a strategic realignment of our group and reduce our global podcast vertical and other functions by approximately 200 people, or 2% of Spotify's workforce."
Despite this setback, it seems Meghan isn't ready to step away from podcasting. A spokesperson for Archewell Productions revealed to the Wall Street Journal that the Duchess is "continuing to develop more content for the 'Archetypes' audience on another platform."
PR specialist Edward Coram James suggested that the decline in popularity of Prince Harry since relocating to the U.S. might have played a role in the podcast's less-than-stellar performance, despite initially topping the charts. "The problem is Harry and Meghan, or specifically Harry, is not the person to achieve change in the media landscape. The reason for that is quite simple, he is deeply, deeply unpopular in the U.K.," he commented in a recent interview.
Meanwhile, Spotify executive Bill Simmons didn't mince words when discussing the royal couple. "I wish I was involved in the Meghan and Harry [leaving] Spotify negotiation. 'The f****** grifters.' That's the podcast we should of launched with them," Simmons humorously stated. "I gotta get drunk one night and tell the story of the Zoom I had with Harry to try and help him with a podcast idea. It's one of my best stories."
