Famous people, whether actors, musicians, sports stars or royalty, don’t automatically make good podcast hosts. Lacking broadcasting experience, they are frequently given to talking over their guests or failing to ask searching questions for fear of causing offence. And so it was with caution that I listened to the first Holiday Special from Archewell Audio, the new podcast series from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. In some ways, the couple are hobbled from the start. They may have relinquished their status as senior royals but family connections, along with enduring media scrutiny, mean they must still mind their Ps and Qs. The freedom that many find in podcasting to let loose and be themselves is not a luxury extended to the Sussexes.
Yet, despite all this, they have made a podcast which, while not reinventing the medium, is definitively not terrible. Certainly, there is little of the forced informality — “Hi guys, I’m Harry.” “And I’m Meghan” — that can be heard in the trailer. And while the tone is often sentimental, as we knew it would be, there are moments of genuine poignance.
The plan of this first episode is to allow friends and those they admire to share their stories and reflect on the challenges and tragedies of the past year — which sounds fine until you realise their close friends include Elton John and James Corden, two men who aren’t exactly in need of a public platform. But other guests prove more interesting, among…
