Vanity Fair’s takedown of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry has been making global headlines – but there’s one cutting claim which will hurt them more than most
It’s been the talk of the past few days when it comes to the Sussexes: Why did the glossy society magazine that once fawned over them and their Royal wedding turn on them?
But as royal courtiers are wagging tongues about the scathing ‘takedown’ piece in the recent issue of Vanity Fair, there’s one claim that might hurt more than most.
For a source has claimed that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry ‘don’t know what change the world means’ following their cancelled Spotify podcast series, Archetypes.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped down as senior members of the Royal Family in 2020, and to mark five years since their big move to California, a long feature was published in Vanity Fair this week. The lengthy article featured people who have worked closely with Meghan, 43, and Harry, 40, amid their ‘rebrand’, including on the Duchess’ cancelled Spotify podcast series.
In June 2023, it was announced that Meghan and Harry’s Archewell Audio had ended their Spotify partnership, reportedly worth £18 million. A statement at the time read, “Spotify and Archewell Audio have mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together.” This saw the end of their top-rated series, Archetypes, which involved Meghan interviewing high-profile celebrities, activists, and experts to “investigate, dissect, and subvert the labels that try to hold women back.”
Referring back to the end of their Spotify podcast, a source in the Vanity Fair article has claimed that the royal couple “don’t know what change the world means”. In a reference to Princess Diana’s royal work before her untimely passing in 1997, the source added, “Diana walked amongst land mines. Meghan couldn’t even say the word sl*t”. The insider also claimed that Meghan and Harry “want to be people who are looked at as people who want to change the world.”
With Meghan’s ambition to create a success of her new Archetypes, the source suggested that she didn’t live up to what was expected from the Archetypes series. They said, “I think the whole world was waiting for her to be that person, and then she never jumped.” The source also spoke about Meghan’s ideas for Archetypes but claimed she would sometimes change her mind on them before it went to a recording.
The Mirror has contacted Meghan and Harry’s representatives for comment.
However, a source in the article also claimed that the creation of their podcast Archetypes did not originally come from them and was the idea of an employee. But it was also pointed out that the person didn’t have any of the intellectual property. It is also alleged that Archewell Audio took so long to handle production that Spotify’s studio Gimlet had to be brought in.
A former Spotify employer also said Harry was “challenging to engage with”, and on an occasion when the couple were interviewing someone for a job, he gave off the air of “why should I do this?”. It led the employee to think, “Didn’t Spotify pay you a lot of money to do this?”
