Meghan Should Tread 'Carefully' With Royal Bombshells as Podcast Returns

Meghan Markle chose the right time to bring back her Spotify podcast but should be "treading carefully" with any royal bombshells after Queen Elizabeth II's death, a podcast expert told Newsweek.

The Duchess of Sussex paused Archetypes after the queen's death plunged the royal family, Britain and many people around the world into mourning on September 8.

The show returned on Tuesday, October 4, with a new episode focussing on the trope of the "dragon lady" in Hollywood depictions of Asian women.

Ashleigh King, the creative director and founder of U.K.-based Flamingo Heights, which offers training in podcasting, told Newsweek: "I don't actually think it's too soon. I think they've made the decision, her and Harry to leave their royal duties behind.

"They have obligations, they've got things they need to do, like anyone, to get ahead with their projects.

"I do think there are questions about the things she's shared in her podcast so far. These kinds of royal bombshells that she drops in the episodes—that is something that I would be treading carefully with at the moment.

"People are particularly polarized at the moment on either pro-monarchy or against the monarchy. That's a global thing—there's a lot of bad things that have happened in the name of the monarchy."

Past swipes at the palace have included an anecdote from the first episode of Archetypes where Meghan said she was made to go back to work after her son Archie narrowly avoided being caught up in a fire as a baby during the Sussex's tour of South Africa in 2019.

The latest episode, however, makes no mention of the palace or the royal family.

King said the queen "did a lot of good," while adding that Meghan might be well placed to engage with global debates about colonialism.

"I think that there's a lot that's been done in the name of the British Empire that isn't great," King said.

"I think that there's a lot of questions that people are going to want to know, myself included, about the monarchy's role going forward and our institutional platforms and structures around us.

"I also think there is a space to have those conversations. Meghan's got a huge platform and she could do so much good with it, especially with that amount of money."

"At the same time," she continued, "this is Harry's family and her kids' grandparents or aunts and uncles or cousins."

King Charles III's reign began with pledges from countries in the Caribbean to hold public votes on whether to remove the British monarch as head of state.

As these go ahead, and if more countries pursue independence from the new king, a return to debates about the royal family and colonialism may well be likely.

Prince William and Kate Middleton's tour of Belize, Jamaica and The Bahamas, took place against a backdrop of calls for an apology for slavery.

However, Meghan and Prince Harry have also faced opposition in the past when attempting to discuss Britain's colonial history.

Prince Harry told a virtual meeting on behalf of the Queen's Commonwealth Trust in July 2020: "When you look across the Commonwealth, there is no way that we can move forward unless we acknowledge the past."

At the time, the duke was president of the organization, though he lost the role when he was stripped of his honorary titles and patronages by the queen in February 2021.

After Harry's comments, author and journalist Robert Hardman wrote in the Daily Mail: "I'm not entirely comfortable saying this, but you seem to assume that the Commonwealth and the British Empire are one and the same thing.

"It is a common enough mistake among people with no great interest in the subject, but a pretty baffling howler for the President of the Queen's Commonwealth Trust (as you continue to be, despite relinquishing the Youth Ambassador role)."