Meghan Markle’s podcast gets a rebrand: Archetypes cover is updated to include Lemonada Media label as the series becomes available on all platforms after Duchess parted ways with Spotify
Meghan Markle’s Archetypes podcast has been launched on all streaming platforms – but with a new cover.
It was revealed last month that the Duchess of Sussex, 42, had signed a new podcast deal with Lemonada Media after she and Prince Harry parted ways with Spotify.
The move will see her host a new podcast series for the female-founded company and her previously Spotify-exclusive show was today released on all platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Audible and Spotify.
But royal fans were quick to spot that the Archetypes cover with Lemonada had undergone a slight makeover from its time on Spotify.
The same photo of Meghan is used but it seems to have undergone a rebrand for the relaunch of the podcast.
Meghan Markle’s Archetypes podcast has been launched on all streaming platforms – but with a new cover (pictured)
Previously, the black-and-white photo of the Duchess was given a green background, with the text laid over the image (pictured)
Previously, the black-and-white photo of the Duchess was given a green background, with the text laid over the image.
The new cover appears fainter with purple hues, while the Archetypes text has been moved above Meghan’s head in the picture.
The podcast keeps the same name: Archetypes with Meghan – and is described as ‘a podcast where we investigate, dissect, and subvert the labels that try to hold women back’.
The previous 13 episodes of the podcast, dating from August to November 2022, are now available to stream on all platforms.
Meghan’s Archetypes podcast about female stereotypes ran for just one series before her lucrative deal with Spotify ended in 2023.
The new deal comes a year after the Duchess and her husband Prince Harry ended their $20million deal with Spotify and three years after it was signed.
‘I’m proud to now be able to share that I am joining the brilliant team at Lemonada to continue my love of podcasting,’ Meghan said in a statement last month.
Spotify and the Sussexes’s audio production company Archewell Audio released a joint statement saying they have ‘mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together’.
Meghan’s podcast was not renewed for a second season with Spotify – but season one has now come to all streaming platforms
A top Spotify podcast executive had called Prince Harry and Meghan ‘f***ing grifters’ after they produced only one 13-episode series of a podcast for the company, and then split.
In a statement about her new podcast, Meghan added: ‘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.
‘Our plan to re-release ‘Archetypes’ so that more people can now have access to it, as well as launching a dynamic new podcast are well in the works. I’m so eager to be able to share it soon, and am overjoyed to be joining the Lemonada family.’
Archetypes, Meghan’s original Spotify show, had around one million listens per episode and debuted as Spotify’s No. 1 podcast in 47 countries around the world when it launched in August 2022.
The series explored the labels that try to hold women back and included guests such as Mariah Carey, Jameela Jamil and Pamela Adlon.
Cordova Kramer, Lemonada said: ‘We are beyond honored that Meghan has trusted us to help democratize access to Archetypes, and that so many more people around the world will have access to the series soon.
‘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.’
It comes after the Duchess of Sussex (pictured in February) was named on a star-studded keynote panel on the opening day of SXSW festival in Texas
Bill Simmons, Head of Podcast Innovation and Monetization at Spotify, condemned the pair in an episode of his own podcast.
‘The f***ing grifters. That’s the podcast we should have launched with them,’ he said. ‘I’ve 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.’
Simmons, a sportswriter, founded sports and pop culture website and podcast network The Ringer, and sold it to Spotify in 2020 for $200 million. He then joined Spotify, and has long been critical of the couple.
Last January, he blasted Prince Harry, saying it was ’embarrassing’ to be affiliated with the same company.
‘Shoot this guy to the sun,’ he said, according to sports website The Big Lead. ‘I’m so tired of this guy. What does he bring to the table? He just whines about s*** and keeps giving interviews. Who gives a s***? Who cares about your life?
‘You weren’t even the favourite son. You live in f****** Montecito and you just sell documentaries and podcasts and nobody cares what you have to say about anything unless you talk about the royal family and you just complain about them.’
Since officially leaving the Royal Family and moving to California in 2020, the Duke and Duchess have pursued a number of different avenues to bring in revenue.
This includes Prince Harry’s bombshell memoir Spare which he created as part of a $20million deal with Penguin Books.
Harry and Meghan at an Invictus Games event in Whistler, Canada, on February 14, 2024
The couple also teamed up with Netflix to produce the docu-series called Harry And Meghan, with the streaming giant reportedly paying the pair $100million for the six-episode series.
It was also revealed on Monday that the Duchess of Sussex has been named on a star-studded keynote panel for the opening day of SXSW festival in Texas – alongside actress Brooke Shields, author Katie Couric and pop culture expert Nancy Wang Yuen.
South by Southwest, also referred to as SXSW, is an annual festival that celebrates the convergence of technology, film, music, education and culture. It is taking place between March 8-16 in Austin, Texas, this year.
Meghan, described by the festival as a ‘feminist and champion of human rights and gender equity and a New York Times bestselling author’, will be headlining the opening day keynote which falls on International Women’s Day.
The session, titled Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen, will also be moderated by Errin Haines, host of The Amendment podcast.
Her involvement at the festival will be the latest in a string of public appearances that Meghan and Prince Harry have made in recent weeks, the most recent of which saw the duchess appearing via video link in London to open a new wing of an animal charity.
This was publicised via the new Sussex.com website she launched with Harry, which instantly became controversial due to the prominence of its royal branding.
Earlier in February, she made dumplings with Afghan female refugees, before a clip of the visit was posted on the Archewell Foundation website last Monday.
The duke and duchess have also recently returned from a trip to the slopes in Whistler, Vancouver, where Harry gave a series of American media interviews ahead of next year’s Invictus Games.
Meghan followed that up with another ski trip with her friends Kelly McKee Zajfen and Heather Dorak in Powder Mountain near Salt Lake City in Utah.
MailOnline has reached out to representatives for Lemonada and Meghan Markle for comment.
