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Meghan Markle's hit podcast Archetypes provides members of the public with the opportunity to "connect" with her "on a level that you could't through other means," providing unique access to her "inner world," according to a discussion on the latest episode of Newsweek's The Royal Report podcast.
Chief royal correspondent Jack Royston and royal commentator Kristen Meinzer discussed Meghan's solo podcast after the show hit the top spot in the Spotify podcast charts in both the U.S. and U.K. upon the release of its first episode on August 25.
Archetypes' stated aim is to "dissect, explore, and subvert the labels that try to hold women back." In weekly releases with special guest stars, Meghan examines words and phrases which are applied to women that carry negative connotations.
The first episode of the Spotify exclusive series, the product of a multi-million dollar content creation deal between the streaming giant and Archewell Audio, was tennis star Serena Williams, followed by songstress Mariah Carey for episode two.
Through the course of her discussions with guests, Meghan has revealed new insights into her private life, including her feeling that she wasn't treated as a "Black woman" until she started dating Prince Harry, and that during a royal tour of South Africa her son's nursery caught fire.
One aspect of the second episode of the podcast praised by Meinzer occurred when Meghan reflected on her initial negative reaction to being called a "diva" by Mariah Carey as the pair discussed the label.
After Meghan told Carey that she didn't "connect" with the label, the singer interjected and said: "you give us diva moments sometimes too Meghan, don't even act like…"
Though this was clarified as a positive statement, Meghan later reflected that it, "stopped me in my tracks…She meant diva as a compliment but I heard it as a dig. I heard it as the word diva as I think of it. But in that moment, as she explained to me, she meant it as chic, aspirational…how one word can mean something very different for each of us—It's mind blowing to me."
"I like that that stayed in the episode," Meinzer commented.
"As somebody who has been podcasting for almost 15 years, I understand the instinct to want to [say] 'let's just leave that on the cutting room floor'…and I think it's really great to leave that stuff in. It makes the show so much more interesting and it makes Meghan much more human."
Agreeing with this sentiment, Royston attributed the humanizing inclusion of the misunderstanding with Carey as an example of the appeal that Meghan's post-royal, free from protocol content has.
"What do you go to Meghan's podcast for? You go to Meghan's podcast to be able to connect with Meghan on a level that you couldn't through other means," he said.
"So that [the Carey incident] is providing an aspect of what in fiction writing you would call 'interiority,' it provides access to her inner world that usually we don't get."
"You've got Meghan doing interviews, she's talking about stuff, you get a sense of her external world but that admission that she had gone through this internal emotional turmoil, it gives us access to her internal world in a way that you very rarely get with any celebrity really, but it is almost unheard of completely for members of the royal family.
"You just never get that kind of access, it's just unthinkable."
Archetypes is the first major piece of digital content released by Harry and Meghan since they signed deals with Spotify and streaming giant Netflix after moving to the U.S. and stepping down as working royals.
The first video project slated for the pair is a docu-series titled Heart of Invictus, which follows a group of former servicemen and women as they compete in the 2022 Invictus Games held in The Haugue in the Netherlands earlier this year.
In 2021, Harry said of the project: "This series will give communities around the world a window into the moving and uplifting stories of these competitors on their path to the Netherlands next year.
"As Archewell Productions' first series with Netflix, in partnership with The Invictus Games Foundation, I couldn't be more excited for the journey ahead or prouder of the Invictus community for continuously inspiring global healing, human potential and continued service."
Archetypes episodes are released weekly through Spotify with the special guest for the upcoming third installment named by Meghan as Mindy Kaling.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more