Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle starts Spotify podcast

Meghan Markle kicked off her first episode with Tennis star and friend Serena Williams where they discussed the double standard women face when they are labelled “ambitious”.

The podcast, called Archetypes, is part of the Duke and Duchess’ audio production company Archewell Audio, which signed an exclusive deal with audio platform Spotify.

In a promotional video released on Twitter, Meghan vowed to be “unfiltered” in her series, saying “people should expect the real me in this” rather than what they see through the lens of the media.

Duke and Duchess of Sussex during a visit to the District Six Homecoming Centre in Cape Town, South Africa

She added: “I’m just excited to be myself and talk and be unfiltered.”

The duchess and the sports champion shared personal stories about the struggles they felt as new mothers.

The duchess also talks about how her experience of the way ambition is perceived changed after embarking on her relationship with Harry.

“I don’t remember ever personally feeling the negative connotation behind the word ambitious until I started dating my now husband,” she said.

Serena Williams reveals Harry helped her with the decision to retire from tennis long before it was announced, spending around an hour discussing the issue with her.

Meghan, who quit the monarchy as a senior working royal, says: “I think, you know, I think both of us, or the three of us, really know that sometimes the right decision isn’t the easiest decision.”

She tells Williams: “It takes a lot of courage, I think, too, to stop something in many ways than to keep going sometimes.”