Meghan Markle 'embarrassed over Spotify era' as Duchess of Sussex set for a 'tactical rethink'

It is understood the Lemonada podcast has been placed on hold “until next year at the earliest” while Meghan prepares to launch her lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard.

The duchess announced her new partnership with Lemonada in February.

In addition to the new podcast, episodes from her former Spotify podcast, Archetypes, will also be distributed through the company.

Spotify’s multi-million-dollar deal with Meghan and Prince Harry ended last year after the couple failed to meet “productivity benchmarks”.

Bill Simmons, the founder of the Ringer podcast network that he sold to Spotify in 2020, accused the Sussexes of being “grifters” on his own podcast.

Gareth Russell, a royal commentator, spoke exclusively to GB News to explain whether the duchess is embarrassed over her fallout with the streaming giant.

He said: “I don't think it would be unnatural for the Sussexes and their team to have felt embarrassment about the quite high profile and high publicity criticism that their Spotify era garnered and the comments that were made personally about their work ethic by people who had worked with them.

“It would be perfectly understandable if they were embarrassed by that or if they were delaying things.

“However, it could also be that they are having a tactical rethink about what messages and what contents they put out into the world.

“We do know that they've recruited a new team of public relations and publicity experts.

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“So it could simply be that they're pivoting to something different under advice from them.”

“I’m proud to now be able to share that I am joining the brilliant team at Lemonada to continue my love of podcasting,” Meghan said in a statement earlier this year.

“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.

“Our plan to re-release Archetypes so that more people can now have access to it, as well as launching a dynamic new podcast, is well in the works. I’m so eager to be able to share it soon, and am overjoyed to be joining the Lemonada family.”