The List Survey: How Did Royal Fans Really Feel About Meghan Markle's Podcast?

Meghan Markle split with Spotify after creating only one season of her podcast, "Archetypes." On June 15, 2023, it was announced that the $20 million exclusive deal that Meghan and her husband, Prince Harry, had signed with Spotify had been terminated. Although the podcast charted high, there was a considerable delay in getting it started — the deal was signed in December 2020 but the first season of "Archetypes" did not air until August 2022. 

There was also a lot of employee turnover at Archewell Audio, the company that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex created for their entertainment projects. According to The Wall Street Journal, Meghan and Harry will not receive the $20 million from their deal because they did not, "[meet] the productivity benchmarks required," (via Insider). Despite these productivity shortcomings, "Archetypes" did win a People's Choice Award in 2022.

The List posted a YouTube survey on July 20, 2023, asking, "Meghan Markle reportedly won't release another season of her podcast 'Archetypes' on Spotify. How did you feel about Duchess Meghan's podcast?" The survey received 29,000 votes as of July 28, 2023. And the overwhelming response was simply, "I never listened to it." 

Of the poll responses received, a whopping 87% never gave "Archetypes" a single listen. Otherwise, 5% of the voters — or a little less than 1,500 respondents — confirmed that they did not like "Archetypes." Elsewhere, 3% of the voters (just under 900 people) said they were neutral. As for positive responses, another 3% said, "I really liked it, I want another season," and the final 2% of respondents said, "I liked it." Plenty of people took to the comments to share their thoughts as well. 

The day the poll was released, one commenter said, "The fact that there were 15k votes and 87% of people said they don't listen to the podcast certainly says a lot." Another person criticized the podcast, claiming it "was a demonstration of [Meghan Markle's] profound ignorance." Another critic shared, "I listened to a couple of episodes. I noticed that she liked talking about herself more than learning about her guest. It was extremely annoying." After the Spotify split, Prince Harry and Meghan were denied when they tried to trademark the name "Archetypes." 

However, despite all the issues and critiques, this may not be the end of the podcast. The Sussexes' lawyer is going to try the trademark again. Meghan's talent agency also spoke with The Wall Street Journal, noting, "The team behind 'Archetypes' remain proud of the podcast they created at Spotify. Meghan is continuing to develop more content for the 'Archetypes' audience on another platform," (via Us Weekly).