Meghan Markle podcast episode one: Everything we’ve learned from Duchess of Sussex podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder | Meghan online bullying harassment, pregnancy complication, working from home with Prince Archie Princess Lilibet

The Duchess of Sussex has returned to the world of podcasting with the launch of her new project, Confessions Of A Female Founder.

Episode one of the eight-part series was released on April 8 (Tuesday evening in Australia) with Meghan sitting down to chat with the founder of the dating app, Bumble, Whitney Wolfe Herd.

The release comes one week after the first collection of products from Meghan’s new lifestyle brand, As ever, sold out within an hour of going live.

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The series, made with Lemonada Media, is Meghan’s first podcast since Archetypes, which she released on Spotify in 2022. It lasted for just one season of 12 episodes.

Meghan had promised to give listeners the “highs – and the lows – and the kind of advice that turns small ideas into billion-dollar businesses” along with “some girl talk”.

Here’s everything we learned from the first episode, titled The Evolution of the Entrepreneur.

‘My heart breaks for you’

Meghan and Wolfe Herd spoke about the online bullying of women in the public eye, of which both have experienced.

Wolfe Herd described the vitriol she received after she sued Tinder, the company she co-founded, over sexual harassment and discrimination claims when she was just 24 (she’s now 35).

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She brought up Meghan’s treatment at the hands of social media trolls, including the intense media scrutiny since the duchess married Prince Harry, becoming a member of the British royal family.

“When I see the way you’ve been treated in the media, which is a magnitude I’ll never understand, my heart breaks for you,” Wolfe Herd said.

“It’s not fair and it’s brutalising.”

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Meghan interrupted with “maybe because you understand it, you know how to show up for me”.

Wolfe Heard continued: “What has happened to you at such a magnitude is [something] that no-one can understand.”

She recalled walking through an airport in Ireland a couple of years ago and coming across a newsagent.

“My jaw hit the floor. You were on the cover of every single magazine and newspaper and every single one said something different. You were the cover of every single one of those magazines, tabloids and newspapers.

“And I was like, ‘holy… what?’ I’m in Ireland and she’s back home in California with her kids doing school drop off and she’s on the front page of every single one of these things. What are they talking about? There’s no content, there’s nothing to say. I just had this moment like, wow, this is a different beast.”

Meghan interjected: “I know, I know… but it doesn’t feel different whether it’s at that scale or not”.

Wolfe Heard added: “I do think there is so much to be said for your ability to exist, even in the presence of that. It takes a very strong cookie. When I was going through the media storm and being called this and that, and this and that, at Tinder, I didn’t leave my house for, like, a month and a half. I was completely paranoid, I was totally depressed.”

Of coping with the intense public attention Meghan said “we turtle”.

The duchess added: “No matter whatever scale they’re at, there’s going to be a point where you’re going to take a hit and there’s going to be a point where you’re going to have to decide if you’re going to cower or conquer or if you’re going to rise above it.”

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When Wolfe Heard told Meghan she had been “reading all these crazy things about myself” online, the duchess said in amazement, “you were reading it all? Oh my gosh no, I’m sorry”.

‘Rare and scary’ pregnancy complication

The women, who have become close friends, have two children of similar ages.

Meghan she experienced postpartum preeclampsia, a potentially life-threatening condition, following the birth of one of her children.

Meghan was 37 when she had Prince Archie and 39 when she had Princess Lilibet.

Pre-eclampsia is a common complication during pregnancy which causes high blood pressure and can, in the most serious cases, lead to seizure, stroke, multiple organ failure and even death.

Women remain at risk for up to six weeks after the baby is born, but that is less common.

Wolfe Herd had pre-eclampsia after the birth of her first son.

Speaking on the podcast Meghan said they “had very similar experiences” with the condition.

“Though we didn’t know each other at the time…we both had pre-eclampsia, postpartum pre-eclampsia,” Meghan said.

She described the condition as “so rare and so scary”, adding: “You’re still trying to juggle all of these things, and the world doesn’t know what’s happening quietly.

“And in the quiet, you’re still trying to show up for people, mostly for your children, but those things are huge medical scares.”

Wolfe Herd described the condition as “life or death, truly”.

The royal baby photo op

Wolfe Heard was introduced by Meghan at the start of the podcast as being one of her closest friends.

“We have such a deep personal connection and love,” Meghan said.

However, both women did not know each other when Prince Archie was born in May 2019.

Wolfe Herd spoke about the pressure that was put on Meghan to front the cameras in the days after giving birth, praising the duchess for doing so.

“I remember after you delivered Archie and the whole world was waiting for his debut,” she said, referring to the moment when Meghan and Prince Harry introduced their son to the world, two days after his birth, in Windsor Castle.

“I was just becoming a new mum and I was like, ‘Oh my God, how is this woman doing this?’ How is this woman putting on heels and going and debuting a child in this beautiful outfit in front of the entire world?

“I could barely face a doorbell delivery for takeout food in a robe. I was like, ‘Please don’t look at me.'”

Working from home helps Meghan be a better mum

During their near 50-minute chat, Meghan said that working from home allowed her to be a better mother to her two children.

She said both motherhood and building a business were “just as important” to her.

“We became mums in this pandemic, post-pandemic culture, where there is so much working from home … I don’t leave the house to go to an office, my office is here.”

Meghan added that Lili still had daytime naps and when she woke she knew exactly where to find her, even if the door to her office was closed.

She then said that Lili often sat on her lap during Zoom meetings with executives, but that she “wouldn’t have it any other way”.

“I don’t want to miss those moments. I don’t want to miss pick-up if I don’t have to. I don’t want to miss drop-off and I think what I do love the most about having young kids in this chapter while I’m building is the perspective that it brings.

“Because you’re building something while your child is going through potty training…and both are just as important.”

Wolfe Herd added that “nothing comes before” being a mother.

Meghan the ‘amazing hostess’

The theme of Meghan’s new podcast is about female entrepreneurship and the series is linked to the launch of her lifestyle brand As ever.

Throughout the first episode Meghan described stressing about various aspects of her business leading up to the “all important launch” including the amount of time she spent focusing on the “packaging and boxes”.

Wolfe Heard praised Meghan’s efforts and described the duchess as “such an amazing hostess”, saying: “When you go to your home, you’re just engulfed in love and cosiness and yumminess.

“Both from just the energy and the surroundings to the things you feed us and the way you treat us.”

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