Meghan Markle podcast: The Duchess of Sussex has learned from her mistakes with Archetypes and for Confessions of a Female Founder, she’s stopped talking about herself | Opinion

OPINION — I have a confession to make: I enjoyed Meghan’s new podcast.

That’s despite being falsely drawn into the latest offering from the Duchess of Sussex: the first episode of Confessions Of A Female Founder didn’t actually contain any revelatory information.

Instead, it was a love-in between Meghan and her close friend, the first self-made female billionaire and founder of dating app Bumble, Whitney Wolfe Herd.

Watch the video above.

READ MORE: Everything we’ve learned from Meghan’s new podcast

Having come to the podcast with very low expectations, I was surprised by one thing that set this apart from Meghan’s first foray into the podcasting world in 2022.

This time, Meghan has learned from her mistakes and she’s stopped talking about herself.

Well, to a certain degree.

There were still those glimpses into Meghan’s life that draw in the curious: that she suffered a potentially life-threatening medical complication after childbirth, how working from the comforts of her Montecito mansion allow her to be a better mum to Archie and Lilibet, and the toll the impact of relentless online bullying of women in the public eye.

Meghan knows what her fans want and she delivers. After all, she had promised some “girl talk” along with “the kind of advice that turns small ideas into billion-dollar businesses”. There wasn’t much of the latter, though.

While Wolfe Herd admitted she would do things differently if she had to start over, saying the “view from Everest isn’t worth it” (she is worth an estimated $400 million) Meghan didn’t press her on the specifics.

There are, however, certain prerequisites it seems the duchess must have before booking a guest: they need to be friends and the guest should praise Meghan where possible.

Case in point: Within the first few minutes, Wolfe Herd describes Meghan and Harry as an “elegant, iconic, classy couple”, with Meghan later calling her guest “the kind of friend who always seems to know exactly what to say”.

Fourteen minutes in and Wolfe Herd brings up the treatment Meghan experienced 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.”

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.”

Was she briefed to bring this up? It’s unlikely, but once again, Meghan – without actually saying much – is being cast as the victim, a narrative she has embraced since stepping back as a working royal five years ago.

Wolfe Herd, who has two sons, later spoke about the pressure put on Meghan to front the cameras in the days after giving birth to Prince Archie, praising the duchess for doing so.

“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?” she said.

Later in the episode, Wolfe Heard 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”.

After all, the podcast is the third stage in Meghan’s rebrand as a lifestyle guru following the launch of With Love, Meghan on Netflix last month and her brand As ever which sold out in less than an hour last week.

Meghan’s latest move came as her husband made a surprise appearance in a London court, arguing for his taxpayer-funded security detail to be reinstated when he returns to the UK.

The Duke of Sussex wasn’t needed at the Courts of Appeal but his presence showed just how important the issue is to him, having previously said it was too dangerous to bring Meghan and their children back to the the UK.

In a rare move, Prince Harry’s unexpected return to London for the hearing has overshadowed his wife’s podcast.

It is Harry who is dominating the news headlines following his appearance on Tuesday.

The duke is suing the government over a ruling by the royal and VIP executive committee to withdraw his automatic right to police protection.

His legal team claims the duke was “singled out” for “inferior treatment” when he was refused taxpayer-funded security while visiting the UK.

Harry arrived in London on Monday before King Charles and Queen Camilla left for their state visit to Italy but father and son did not catch up.

Nor is Prince Harry expected to see his brother and his family: the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children are on a pre-Easter holiday.

The timings of all three, separate, events could not be helped: Harry couldn’t choose his court date, Charles and Camilla’s state visit had been locked in months ago and Meghan’s podcast was always due for release on the 8th.

But you have to wonder, within all this extra royal news, will Meghan’s podcast get the attention she is looking for?

We are one episode in to an eight-part series and the success of this will determine if there is a season two.

There was just one season of Archetypes because of poor reviews. The complaint from many critics was that Meghan made each one about herself despite having a range of interesting guests: Serena Williams, Paris Hilton, Mariah Carey.

Meghan’s life on Instagram: all her best posts so far

This time around, things weren’t all about Meghan and she has let her guest shine.

It’s a refreshing departure from what critics of the duchess have come to expect from her post-royal life.

Whether she can sustain that same approach for the remainder of the series is another thing.

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