‘Shameless’: Meghan announces another major project
The Duchess of Sussex has announced another major project despite a recent ominous warning – and some very poor timing.
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In 1976, while competing at the Montreal Olympics, Princess Anne spectacularly fell off her horse.
Gamely, she dusted herself off, clambered back onto her mount and jolly well kept going.
And just like her aunt-in-law, Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex has gotten back on the horse despite it being a troublesome filly that keeps bucking her off.
Never mind the neigh-sayers …
The duchess is about to drop a new series despite her solo content efforts, so far, having been met with everything from critical drubbings to flaccid reviews to tepid ratings.
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Next month the world will be treated to the release of a new Meghan podcast called Confessions Of A Female Founder which is all about ladies who launch and from what has been revealed, this all sounds like the equivalent of an L-plater yet to even contemplate a reverse park releasing a driving podcast.
Or as The Daily Beast put it in a headline: “Now Meghan Shamelessly Rebrands As A Podcast Guru”.
Demonstrating a remarkable disinclination to pivot as they say in the Valley (Silicon, natch) Confessions will follow nearly exactly the same format as her one-and-done Spotify series Archetypes and her lifestyle show With Love, Meghan both of which saw her chat to a smattering of big names, interspersed with her own mates.
So far this has not exactly been a winning formula for the duchess.
Announcing Confessions, she posted on Insta that her guests would be “opening up, sharing their tips, tricks (and tumbles), and letting me pick their brains as I build out my own business, As Ever”, which makes it all seem a bit like the audio equivalent of the behind-the- scenes DVD bonus feature of the making of her edible flower empire.
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Given the duchess’ patchy track record in making things people might want to spend their free time streaming, the news of Confessions brings to mind former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown’s stinging assessment last year.
She said, of the Duchess of Sussex: “all of her ideas are total crap, unfortunately.
“The trouble with Meghan is that she has the worst judgment of anyone in the entire world.
“She’s flawless about getting it all wrong. She really is.”
Is Brown’s appraisal about to be confirmed?
Like her other creative projects – The Bench (a children’s book), Archetypes (gender 101 meets the Hollywood Walk of Fame) and With Love (lifestyle-tainment) – Confessions will see her lend her voice to already overstuffed, overserviced content categories.
There would have to be hundreds of podcasts clogging up every streaming platform about women so eagerly leaning into business they are about to topple head first onto the boardroom table.
This new podcast news comes nearly two years after the Sussexes’ previous audio attempts met with a sticky end, with Spotify parting ways with them after they only managed to make one series (Archetypes) in two and a half years and one of the company’s execs labelling them “f**king grifters”.
As it was, Archetypes reportedly took 28 staff over 20 months to make.
Earlier this year, Vanity Fair reported that “a person with ties to Archetypes took a leave of absence after working on three episodes”.
Even if you squint very hard, working out the USP – unique selling point – of Confessions, is impossible to discern, aside from producers Lemonada Media being able to piggyback on her fame thanks to her in-laws.
Speaking of that lot, them with the HRHs and all that grouse, they most likely won’t be listening given that Confessions’ release date – April 8 – is smack dab when King Charles and Queen Camilla will be undertaking a high profile State visit to Italy.
The day after, April 9, will be Their Majesties’ 20th wedding anniversary, which will likely be marked by Buckingham Palace in some way.
Oh, those pesky timing co-incky dinks.
How much media oxygen and attention will Charles realistically end up getting with his tour going up against his daughter-in-law’s latest project?
That, of course, is not the Duchess of Sussex’s concern. The only question that really matters is, will Confessions actually work?
So far, the Sussexes’ podcasting and TV endeavours constitute a painful, teachable lesson for the streaming industry in shovelling barrowful of cash at famous names in the hope their celebrity might translate into something of value.
Meghan’s entrepreneurial tilt has also been far from smooth sailing.
In February, the Duchess of Sussex announced she was canning her American Riviera Orchard (ARO) brand, never having sold a single product and was relaunching the concept as As Ever.
Not mentioned in her Mr McGregor’s Garden-esque veggie patch Insta video was that her attempts to trademark ARO had been embarrassingly rebuffed by the US patent office.
And therein lies a key question that could make or break Confessions – glossing over painful truths does not make for good podcasting.
The most successful podcasts involve a high degree of genuine vulnerability and the hosts’ willingness to open up.
Will her new series see the duchess genuinely share her fledgling businesses’ stuff ups and her own failures and misfires?
Last week it was revealed that Netflix, which is a partner in As Ever, was “worried” about the project after the barrage of negative With Love reviews.
“It’s not a runaway success” an insider at the streamer told the Daily Mail.
“They have invested a lot in the product line. They don’t know when and how to roll it all out”.
Despite Meghan and Netflix touting a second series of With Love only days after the first dropped, the two were actually filmed back to back nearly a year ago, somewhat taking the gloss off things.
Moreover, the Sussexes’ future with Netflix reportedly still hangs in the balance with their current contract reportedly set to expire this year.
One theory about the duke and duchess’ Hollywood future emerged via Guardian columnist and Rest Is Entertainment co-host Marina Hyde, who this week said: “The reality is that a lot of people are hanging around in case there’s a divorce.
“That might be why Netflix, or whoever it might be, who’s got to deal with them, might keep a vague hand in.”
As Harry and Meghan stare down 2025, it might be worth keeping in mind what Aunty Anne told reporters having finished the showjumping course at the 1976 Olympics.
Throwing the towel in was never an option with her saying, “I was riding as a member of a team so there was no question of quitting.”
Sage advice.
Daniela Elser is a writer, editor and commentator with more than 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles.
Originally published as ‘Shameless’: Meghan announces another major project
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