After the release of her panned Netflix series, Meghan Markle will be back shortly with a new podcast – and one royal expert says the Duchess of Sussex’s latest moves send a very painful message

Meghan Markle has many projects in the pipeline (Image: Getty Images)

Meghan Markle is sending a painful message with her latest move off the back of her panned Netflix series, an expert has claimed. This month she has seen lifestyle show With Love, Meghan, hit the streamer’s top 10 chart – despite the fact it has been savaged by the critics. Not only that, it has been announced that the show will also be returning for a second series later this year.

Then came the news that the Duchess of Sussex is also launching her new podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder, which will see her have “candid conversations” with “amazing women” about the success and struggles of their businesses.

The podcast has been created as part of a deal Meghan signed last year with Lemonada Media, which said listeners would hear “unfiltered stories behind the successes of notable female founders”.

And according to royal expert and historian Dr Tessa Dunlop, despite the brutal criticism Meghan has faced, she has had the last laugh. She told the Mirror: “How the world has loved to hate on Meghan for her serialised version of perfection – With Love Meghan.

It has even inspired a new verb – to hate-watch. The Duchess of Sussex has become the catch-all for our own feelings of inadequacy and jealousy.

Meghan with the rest of the Royal Family and the late Queen before she quit her royal role (Image: Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

“How. Dare. She, sighs millions of viewers, before settling down to another episode of yet more hate-watching. There is something deliciously ironic about the fact that Meghan has devised a creative strategy (including an Instagram account with 2.5million followers) that weaponises all those haters and turns their clicks into profits. Well done her.

“Cue a giant algorithm that has brought the Duchess international success and abundant wealth. Despite (or perhaps because of) the dismal reviews and universal loathing, With Love Meghan sits proudly in Netflix’s global top ten. Not bad for a one-time bit-part actress in a B-list series called Suits.

“A second With Love, Meghan series has already been commissioned and filmed. More perfection is in the pipeline. And the beginning of April will see the launch of another podcast series – Confessions of a Female Founder with Meghan.”

And Tessa adds that with all these projects in the pipeline, Meghan is sending a very telling message – especially to the royals. She added: “Lest the haters are in any doubt as to the company they keep – it was US President Donald Trump who announced he will leave Harry alone during his beleaguered American visa application because ‘he’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible’.

“As for viewers back in Britain, Meghan’s media triumph will be a bitter pill for some to swallow. Secretly too many of us wanted Meghan to fail: she stole our prince and dissed our first family and ran away with titles and tittle-tattle to the States where she has made a go of it. Proof that there really is life after the Royal Family.”