Meghan Markle's Podcast Reportedly Gets Major Setback

Meghan Markle's upcoming podcast may face a delay. In a report published by the Daily Mail on Monday, April 22, royal expert Richard Eden claimed that Markle's podcast venture was postponed to 2025.

Eden reported that a California-based insider said that her new podcast network, Lemonada, did not want its launch "overshadowed" by the release of her upcoming Netflix series. Two nonfiction shows are currently in production for the streamer, which Markle and her husband, Prince Harry announced earlier this month.

According to reports, Markle, 42, announced in February that she had partnered with Lemonada Media for a new podcast deal. In a statement released at the time, the Duchess of Sussex said she was "proud" to join the "brilliant team" and would "continue her love of podcasting" as part of her new role.

"Being able to support a female founded company with a roster of thought provoking and highly entertaining podcasts is a fantastic way to kick off 2024," the statement read. "Our plan [is] to re-release Archetypes so that more people can now have access to it, as well as launching a dynamic new podcast are well in the works."

While no other details were revealed at the time about Markle's forthcoming show, Eden, in the Daily Mail story, claimed that Lemonada is now "concerned" about potential "scheduling conflicts." Markle's deal with Lemonada came to fruition following Spotify's decision to terminate her Archetypes podcast in June 2023, after 12 episodes had been released. "The team behind Archetypes remain proud of the podcast they created at Spotify," a statement following the cancellation read. "Meghan is continuing to develop more content for the Archetypes audience on another platform."

As part of the Lemonada Media deal, Meghan's new show will be featured alongside the Archetypes podcast, which is set to be "dynamic," a source told Us Weekly in February. "[She] wants to do mostly philanthropic-type content," the insider added. "She considers herself too academic for entertainment-only. She doesn't want the podcast to be celebrity-driven, though she'll have some stars on."

The announcement of Markle's upcoming podcast came about a month before she launched a new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, on March 14, alongside a new website and Instagram page. At the moment, little information is available about the new venture. The new business's website only offers an email sign-up option, and there are just six posts on the Instagram account that feature the business's logo. The American Riviera Orchard Instagram page bio reads, "By Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. Established 2024." Us Weekly reported that Markle has since filed trademarks to sell items such as cutlery, cookbooks, jarred foods, and other items under the American Riviera Orchard brand name.