Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, launched their anticipated Archewell Audio podcast this week, and it’s starting to climb the charts after initially being beaten by sounds that put people to sleep.
Happens to the best of us.
The former royals – who stepped down from their senior roles earlier this year before moving to the US – released the first episode on Tuesday, with guest stars including Sir Elton John and James Corden.
With Spotify shelling out a reported $25million (£18m) for Harry and Meghan’s latest post-royal endeavour, it’s a good sign on its investment as it currently sits pretty in seventh spot.
While it may now be hot on the heels of Louis Theroux and his Grounded podcast, Harry and Meghan were reportedly initially shuffled down the list by the Deep Sleep Sounds app, according to the Sun.
First landing on the Spotify podcast chart in 17th place, it was reported the first episode ranked below whale sounds before it began its climb.
It’s since cracked the top 10 in the UK, behind top-charting The Joe Rogan Experience (another Spotify investment) and Chris and Rosie Ramsey’s Sh**ged Married Annoyed, which is in the second spot.
The podcast is currently ranked number two on the top society and culture podcast list and 14 on the trending chart.
In the US it sits at number 26 on the top podcast list.
Despite also trailing the Times news briefing podcast, as well as JaackMaate’s Happy Hour and Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster, Harry and Meghan’s podcast utterly delighted many a listener this week with the first sounds from the couple’s young son Archie.
Talking with what appeared to be an American twang to his voice, the royal toddler repeated ‘Happy’ after his father said it, then copied Meghan and said ‘New’.
But the 19-month-old needed no further prompting to complete the phrase and could be heard giggling as he said ‘Year’.
The audio venture follows a multi-million pound Netflix deal to become film and TV producers after the couple quit as senior members of the royal family at the start of 2020.
The pair spoke with Sir Elton, who said, when asked about his hopes for the future: ‘I hope after this awful pandemic has passed, and we can go back to some sort of normality, that we have become better people – and I hope for healing.
‘It’s been an awful time for people. People have lost loved ones, people have lost their businesses, they’ve lost work. It’s been an awful time for people, so I hope that we can heal in 2021.’
Other podcast guests during the 34-minute show included TV host Corden, activist and tennis star Naomi Osaka, American filmmaker and actor Tyler Perry, wellness icon Deepak Chopra and teenage activist Christina Adane, from London – who campaigns on food issues.
They began their show by paying tribute to healthcare and frontline workers for their ‘sacrifices’ and remembered those who have lived through ‘uncertainty and unthinkable loss’ during the coronavirus pandemic.
Before the appearance of Archie, Harry and Meghan broadcast the gospel song This Little Light Of Mine, which was played at the end of their wedding in May 2018.
Quoting Martin Luther King, Meghan said: ‘It was the music that we wanted playing when we started our lives together.
Because as we all know, “darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that..”‘.
The podcast ended with the couple telling their listeners ‘love wins’.
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