Meghan Markle and Prince Harry hit with fresh setback as Sussexes face third major blow in just seven days

While the couple reportedly bagged £18million from the deal, reports emerged that Meghan had faked interviews on her podcast, palming off the grunt work onto her staffers.

Now, the US Patent and Trademark office has refused to grant a trademark for the Archetypes podcast, on the grounds of confusion with an existing Arizonian company.

The Sussexes’ were seeking exclusive rights to the name Archetypes in relation to 'downloadable audio recordings and podcasts' for anything concerning the 'cultural treatment of women and stereotypes facing women'.

However, a trademark for Archetypes LLC already exists, secured by an Arizonian firm in 2015 and granting use for a series of books and articles about 'nutrition, fitness, sexuality, psychological self-improvement.

Taking an arms length approach to the application, Harry and Meghan both failed to sign their application to the regulatory body.

Representing the couple, Marjorie Witter Norman, of Los Angeles firm Willkie, Farr & Gallagher, has applied for another three months to iron out the creases and get the trademark application over the line.

Earlier this week, Meghan Markle was also accused by whistleblowers of having taken an arms length approach to the Spotify podcast by faking a number of interviews.

The Duchess of Sussex reportedly palmed off the podcast grunt work of interviewing guests deemed less VIP onto her staffers, adding her voice to the discussion afterwards.

Rumours had been swirling for some time over the extent of the Duchess’ involvement in the project, with the Spectator’s Cockburn branding Meghan “America’s laziest interviewer” back in November 2022.

The comments came following a major slip up by a guest, that might well have been intentional shade throwing, which appeared to reveal that Meghan doesn’t do her own stunts.

Taking to social media after an appearance in the episode To B’ or not to B’ of Meghan’s podcast, New York journalist Allison Yarrow thanked an audio producer called Farrah Safarfi for being an “excellent interviewer”.

Yet, in the episode, Yarrow could be heard apparently discussing “the origin and plague” of the word b***h with Meghan.

Claiming the Spotify deal ended by mutual agreement, the Sussexes’ audio production company, Archewell, said: “We are proud of the series we made together.”

However, Bill Simmons, Head of Podcast Innovation and Monetization at Spotify, had a different take in his own podcast.

On Friday, Simmons said: "The f***ing grifters. That's the podcast we should have launched with them.”