When Meghan Markle attended the Variety Power of Women event in Los Angeles last November, she teased that she and husband Prince Harry “have so many exciting things on the slate”—and she wasn’t kidding.
In addition to a new full-scale lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard (due out this spring), Harry and Meghan’s ongoing Netflix deal will see a film adaptation of the Carley Fortune novel Meet Me at the Lake, plus a cookery show helmed by Meghan. (Harry has his own Netflix project, his show centered around polo.)
Lest we forget, Meghan also has a new podcast deal with Lemonada Media; she announced in February that, in addition to re-releasing episodes of Meghan’s podcast with Spotify, “Archetypes,” so “that more people can now have access to it,” Meghan said, she is also “launching a dynamic new podcast,” which she said “is well in the works.”
Those expecting a new podcast offering from Meghan in the immediate future may be disappointed, though: The Daily Mail’s Richard Eden reports that Meghan’s podcast has reportedly been put on ice “until next year at the earliest” as she rolls out American Riviera Orchard. The launch of her new podcast “got pushed back to 2025,” a source told him, with Eden adding that the show is “struggling to get off the starting blocks.”
Eden added “It is understood that Lemonada did not want the podcast’s launch to be overshadowed by the former actress’ television series, which she began filming at a rented house in Montecito last week.” He continued that “Lemonada is said to be concerned that there would also be scheduling conflicts between the launch of its podcasts and that of Meghan’s lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard.”
When the podcast does come to fruition, however, Meghan has a list of “very high-profile guests” scheduled to participate, according to Eden’s column.
Meghan said in February that she was “overjoyed” to be working with Lemonada, which was founded in 2019 by Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs. Though a smaller platform than, say, Spotify (where Harry and Meghan previously had a $20 million deal), Lemonada is well-respected within the industry and has produced podcasts like Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ “Wiser Than Me,” Samantha Bee’s “Choice Words,” and Jennette McCurdy’s “Hard Feelings.”
“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,” Meghan said back in February.
“Archetypes” was the lone offering from Harry and Meghan’s lucrative Spotify deal, inked in 2020. The 13-episode show was a hit, with around 1 million listens per episode; it debuted as Spotify’s No. 1 podcast across 47 countries when it launched in August 2022. It went on to win a People’s Choice Award, and Meghan won Best Entertainment Podcast Host at the Gracie Awards.
As for her new show, it appears that at least some development of the new podcast has occurred, though the public hasn’t been made aware of its topic. Lemonada’s co-founders shared they were “honored” and “delighted” to be working with Meghan, and Wittels Wachs added “As we’ve started development with the Duchess of Sussex, we are blown away by her collaborative spirit and clear vision, along with her deep desire to build compassion and community through this work,” she said. Cordova Kramer said that “Meghan’s talent as host, creator, and conversationalist is unparalleled, and we are thrilled to co-create a new series with her that fosters her approach to creating art that matters.”
In her February statement about the new venture, Meghan said of the Lemonada podcast that she is “so eager to be able to share it soon”—it just might not be as soon as those waiting in eager anticipation for the show were hoping.
