Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been controversial figures for a couple of years now — since choosing to step away from their royal duties and relocate to the United States — and their actions over the past several months seem to have spurned criticism anew. They’ve been lambasted over their Harry & Meghan Netflix docuseries, Harry’s memoir Spare and their handling of King Charles III’s coronation. Most recently, Spotify executive Bill Simmons didn’t pull punches in his opinion of the couple, after the audio streamer’s deal with Archewell came to an end, and an insider has revealed just how deeply Markle was allegedly affected by the “attack.”
Less than three years after Meghan Markle and Prince Harry signed a $20 million deal with Spotify, the two parties announced the end of their partnership in June. Bill Simmons had sharp criticism for the royal couple in the aftermath, calling them “fucking grifters,” and an insider told OK! Magazine that Markle is “distraught” over the situation. According to the source:
Meghan is distraught over this Spotify snub and the fallout that has followed. It’s totally knocked her sideways. She can’t believe she’s been attacked so viciously and so publicly by one of their execs, and to be labeled 'grifters' is an utterly humiliating and gut-wrenching all-time low — it’s served as a brutal reality check that things really do need to change to save their popularity.
It’s easy to see how the Duchess of Sussex could be humiliated by what transpired between Archewell Audio and Spotify, as their partnership resulted in only one 12-episode season of her podcast Archetypes before their deal was severed. However, in addition to Bill Simmons’ statement, Meghan Markle also reportedly had a plan in place with Spotify for the streamer to release a statement saying how great it was to work with her, which they neglected to do.
This report about how hard Prince Harry’s wife is taking the fallout from this project comes amid sources’ claims that the couple are “sick and tired” of the “cheap shots” taken at them. While the allegations Harry made in Spare caused the Royal Family’s overall popularity to take a hit, the Duke of Sussex and his wife have possibly talen the worst of it, becoming something of a global punchline.
South Park even parodied the couple — without using their names — and the perceived hypocrisy of how they allegedly ask for privacy while releasing a docuseries, penning a tell-all book, etc. Many were also amused when Prince Harry’s face was blocked on televised coverage of his father’s coronation by a huge red feather, as it harkened back to “Candlegate” just months earlier, when Meghan Markle’s face was obscured by a candle during Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.
Public support for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex may be limited, but Andy Cohen spoke in defense of Meghan Markle after rumors circulated about her not interviewing the guests on the Archetypes podcast. While some thought the actress’ statements were being edited in between comments from her guests, Cohen clarified that “of course” she had interviewed him, calling reports to the contrary “insane.”
If you want more insight into the lives of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, their series Harry & Meghan can be streamed with a Netflix subscription.
