Meghan Markle podcast - live: Duchess credits Archie’s nanny for saving him from nursery fire

Meghan Markle has released the first episode of her new podcast, ‘Archetypes’

Serena Williams explains why hairstyle for friend Meghan Markle’s wedding took ‘all night’

The Duchess of Sussex has released the first episode of her new podcast, Archetypes.

Tennis pro Williams is the first guest on Meghan Markle’s new podcast, which dropped on Spotify on Tuesday afternoon (23 August).

Meghan acted as an executive producer for the first episode and spoke to Williams about the double standard women face when they are labelled “ambitious”.

Additionally, the Duchess also revealed details of an incident when her son Archie’s nanny saved him from a fire during a royal tour.

The podcast is a co-production between Archewell Audio, Gimlet and Spotify.

Archewell Audio sits under Archewell, the organisation founded by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex after the pair stepped down as senior members of the royal family in 2020.

This is the first episode released after the pair reportedly signed an exclusive deal with the audio streaming service in December 2020.

Key Points

• Archie’s bedroom caught fire during royal tour, Meghan reveals
• Meghan Markle releases first Spotify podcast episode
• Meghan Markle identifies nanny for first time and credits her for saving Archie in nursery fire
• Meghan was ‘under a lot of stress’ during pregnancies

[24 August 2022 12:01 · Graeme Massie]

ICYMI: Archie made a guest appearance during Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s first podcast in December 2020

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex released their first podcast episode together in December 2020, as part of the couple’s exclusive with Spotify.

During the 33-minute Holiday Special podcast, Harry and Meghan reflected on the challenging year, and focused on positive life lessons and acts of kindness amid the pandemic.

Some of the high-profile guests to join the duke and duchess on their first podcast special included Sir Elton John, Stacey Abrams, James Corden, author Matt Haig and George the Poet.

Even the couple’s then one-and-a-half-year-old son Archie made a guest appearance. The toddler wished listeners a “Happy New Year”, which was met with laughter from his parents.

Listen to Archie’s podcast debut here.

[24 August 2022 12:21 · Laura Hampson]

Until next week

Thank you for following our coverage of Meghan Markle’s first podcast episode. Come back next week as the Duchess of Sussex releases the second episode of her Archetypes podcast.

[24 August 2022 13:11 · Graeme Massie]

ICYMI: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle expressed their concerns to Spotify in January for hosting “misinformation” via Joe Rogan’s podcast

The couple, whose exclusive deal with Spotify is reportedly worth $25m, said they “expressed their concerns” to the streaming platform giant about Rogan’s controversial podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. Rogan has been heavily criticised for his controversial views on the Covid-19 vaccine, with many saying he is using his popular podcast to spread ”misinformation”.

In a statement, Harry and Meghan said they have opposed Spotify’s decision to host such information since April 2021.

“Since the inception of Archewell, we have worked to address the real-time global misinformation crisis,” they said. “Hundreds of millions of people are affected by the serious harms of mis- and disinformation every day.

“Last April, our co-founders began expressing concerns to our partners at Spotify about the all too real consequences of Covid misinformation on its platform.

“We have continued to express our concerns to Spotify to ensure changes to its platform are made to help address this public health crisis.

“We look to Spotify to meet this moment and are committed to continuing our work together as it does.”

Read the full story from Jacob Stolworthy here.

[24 August 2022 13:58 · Graeme Massie]

ICYMI: Meghan Markle says she had to continue royal tour after baby Archie narrowly escaped bedroom fire

The Duchess of Sussex spoke about the harrowing event during the first episode of her Archetypes podcast, which premiered on Spotify on Tuesday.

Markle explained how she and husband Prince Harry were on a royal tour in South Africa in 2019 when they learned that there had been a fire in their son Archie’s nursery. Archie, who was four months old at the time, was unharmed.

“We finish the engagement, we get in the car and they say: there’s been a fire at the residence,” she said.

When they arrived at the house, Markle said their nanny Lauren “was in floods of tears.”

“We came back, and of course, as a mother... everyone’s in tears, everyone’s shaken. And what did we have to do? Go out and give another official engagement,” she said.

You can read Nicole Vassell’s full story here.