It’s been five years since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down as working royals and relocated to North America.
After a brief stint in Canada, the couple settled in California, where they’ve made a permanent home for themselves and their two children in the posh Santa Barbara neighborhood of Montecito.
But while the Sussexes’ lives might seem perfect on the outside, their attempt to rebrand themselves as American media moguls has met with one setback after another.
Half a Decade as the Duke and Duchess of California
In fact, in recent months, the situation has deteriorated to the point that fans and critics alike began to speculate that Harry and Meghan would move back to the UK.
It looks as though there are no immediate plans to pull up stakes.
But at this point, even the couple’s most ardent defenders are admitting that they’ve encountered some serious hurdles on their path to becoming media moguls.
As we approach the first milestone anniversary of the couple’s time in America, Vanity Fair has taken a deep-dive look at Harry and Meghan’s half-decade in SoCal. And it’s safe to say that things have not gone according to plan.
The outlet did not speak with Harry and Meghan for the piece it published today. But it did interview numerous sources who worked with the couple on media projects during their years in the US.
The Podcast Flop
One of the Sussexes’ most high-profile failures was the cancelation of Meghan’s podcast after just one season.
Insiders make it sound as though the project was doomed from the start.
“They had this idea to do a podcast because they knew celebrities did them,” a source identified as a former Spotify tells the outlet, adding that Harry and Meghan “didn’t do what celebrities do on podcasts, which is turn on the mic and talk. They wanted a big theme that would explain the world, but they had no ideas.”
Harry had an idea in which he would interview “sociopaths” like Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Mark Zuckerberg. (Zuck probably isn’t thrilled to be lumped in with that group!)
“I have very bad childhood trauma. Obviously. My mother was essentially murdered. What is it about me that didn’t make me one of these bad guys?” Harry allegedly asked.
It was a provocative idea that didn’t come to pass for obvious logistical reasons.
And it seems that after that premise fell flat, Harry sort of just checked out of the podcast process.
“I just felt like he kind of didn’t want to be there doing that at this time…. My expectation was ‘charming receiving line.’ And it was clear he wasn’t that person. At least that day,” says one source.
“Didn’t Spotify pay you a lot of money to do this?” another insider wondered.
“He looks like the kind of guy who would, frankly, happily work for charities for the rest of his life and would be very happy if Meghan made all the money and he didn’t need to.”
Keeping Up Appearances
The most popular modern podcasts feature hosts who leave no question about whether they’re presenting their authentic selves.
They dabble in edgy humor and hot takes, and the listener feels more like they’re hanging out with a pot-stirring friend than listening to a polished media project. But apparently, Meghan is not a fan of that level of candor.
One insider says that there was a plan for her to say “b-tch” on an episode that would center around the use of the word.
“You hear it all the time,” the source remembers Meghan saying.
In the end, however, the duchess played things safe by referring to it only as “the B-word.”
Another episode was to be titled “Slut,” and would focus on a discussion of the ways in which “trans women’s sexuality is used against them.”
Meghan decided to retitle the episode “Human, Being,” and it was “completely reimagined late in production,” the source claims.
“Every episode got more and more watered down and further away from actual conversation,” says the insider.
“I think the whole world was waiting for her to be that person, and then she never jumped,” says a different source. “Diana walked amongst land mines. Meghan couldn’t even say the word slut.”
That might be why some folks at Spotify wound up feeling as though they hadn’t gotten their money’s worth.
Sports media personality and Spotify exec Bill Simmons was particularly harsh in his comments on the situation.
“’The F-cking Grifters.’ That’s the podcast we should have launched with them,” Simmons said on his own podcast.
“I have got to get drunk one night and tell the story of the Zoom I had with Harry to try and help him with a podcast idea. It’s one of my best stories.… F-ck them. The grifters.”
Needless to say, it sounds like Meghan and Harry won’t be striking another deal with Spotify anytime soon.
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