Meghan Markles new podcast was today slammed as an inane stream of mindless aphorisms and stomach-turning as it debuted to a slew of negative reviews.
The Telegraph, Standard and Guardian all gave Confessions of a Female Founder two stars, while there were also withering write-ups in the Times, Express and i Paper.
One key criticism was that listeners might have hoped to hear much wisdom from Meghans guest, Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd - but we get none of it, because the former actress steers conversations towards her own experiences.
The Duchess of Sussex revealed in the podcast that she had a huge medical scare after giving birth, having announced the arrival of the new Lemonada Media show by posting a series of throwback photos on Instagram of her selling cookies as a child.
Both women discussed how they had suffered from postpartum preeclampsia, a condition related to high blood pressure and excess protein in urine in the days or weeks after giving birth - which Wolfe Herd described as life or death, truly.
But Telegraph TV critic Chris Bennion described the show in a scathing review as having an inane stream of mindless aphorisms with no confessions or secrets.
He said there are plenty of self-care aphorisms, journeys of self-love and validation, discussions of bottling your essence, and great handfuls of mutual adoration.
Mr Bennion added: The frustrating thing is that Wolfe Herd, who is just 35, presumably does have wisdom to impart, having been part of the team that created Tinder before she created Bumble.
The Duchess of Sussex has launched a new podcast called Confessions Of A Female Founder
Telegraph TV critic Chris Bennion said the show had an inane stream of mindless aphorisms
In the Guardian, Rachel Aroesti said the sycophantic interview podcast is stomach-turning.
Imagine the drive, the talent, the decisions and sheer bloody ruthlessness it must take to achieve what she has. We get none of it.
In this perfumed echo chamber, the best we get is a sense that Wolfe Herd didnt love school and that she wishes she hadnt worked so hard.
In the Guardian, pop culture writer Rachel Aroesti said the sycophantic interview podcast is stomach-turning.
She said that whenever her guest opened up about her life, Meghan very rarely reciprocates, adding: You can understand why shes guarded – but the problem is that personal disclosure fuels parasocial relationships, which are podcastings primary draw.
Ms Aroesti also wrote: Its hardly a manual of specific, constructive business advice; its simply an effusive chinwag between two like-minded pals that may as well have taken place behind a deluxe set of closed doors.
Another two-star review came from the Standard, in which India Block said Wolfe Herd gentle parents Meghan – and that the Duchess had been frozen in time since shutting her lifestyle blog The Tig in 2017 before announcing her engagement to Prince Harry.
But Ms Block also said the Duchess is a generous and competent interviewer, playing up her anxieties and being the right amount of complementary and deferential to keep her guest relaxed and talking.
In the Express, royal reporter Hanisha Sethi said she wanted Wolfe Herd to share more learning curves about her journey rather than lunches with Meghan and bottles of rosé.
She wrote: Meghan takes control of the narrative early on in the episode. She bluntly directs the podcast by informing her friend of how she wants the conversation to be relaxed and easy – which is normally a chat you would have with a guest behind-the-scenes instead of on-air for broadcast.
Ms Sethi also said Meghan often steers conversations towards her own experiences, regardless of the original topic, adding: While this may stem from a desire to connect or relate, it can also overshadow others contributions.
In The Times, reviewer Charlie Gowans-Eglinton said Meghan could have asked Wolfe Herd how she made a billion, but she had other things on her mind.
She wrote that she had been ready to jot down the wisdom that will doubtless awaken the entrepreneur within and make me my first million.
But she added: I have been listening for eight minutes and 48 seconds before Whitney (I will call her Whitney, since we are doing girl talk) speaks about business for - I timed it - 17 seconds before Meghan chimes in again.
A further review in The i Paper by chief culture writer Sarah Carson described the podcast as 45 minutes of platitudes.
She said the Duchesss comment about packaging keeping her up at night was likely intended as relatable and approachable and a reflection of how easy and detrimental it is to become absorbed with small details at the cost of losing sight of the bigger picture.
But Ms Carson said this instead sets the tone for a podcast as light as those styrofoam peanuts that only really concerns itself with surface aesthetics – the packaging – and offers little of substance.
The podcast was released just hours after Prince Harry landed in the UK, and King Charles III jetted off to Italy with Queen Camilla for a four-day state visit.
The Duke of Sussex then arrived at the High Court this morning for an appeal against a ruling on whether he is entitled to armed bodyguards paid for by the taxpayer.
In the podcast interview recorded in February, Meghan said to Wolfe Herd: We both had very similar experiences - though we didnt know each other at the time - with postpartum, and we both had preeclampsia. Postpartum preeclampsia.
Meghan did not reveal whether she suffered the condition after the birth of her son Prince Archie , five, or her daughter Princess Lilibet, three. Wolfe Herd has two sons.
Meghan released four throwback photos of herself as a child on Instagram to launch the show
Meghans announcement on Instagram today to confirm her new podcast is now live
The Duchess added: Its so rare and so scary. And youre still trying to juggle all of these things, and the world doesnt know whats happening quietly.
And in the quiet, youre still trying to show up for people - mostly for your children - but those things are huge medical scares. Wolfe Herd added: I mean life or death, truly.
Wolfe Herd spoke about Meghan and Harry introducing their newborn son Archie to the world in a photocall at St Georges Hall in Windsor Castle in May 2019, two days after his birth.
She told the Duchess: I mean, Ill never forget the image of you after you delivered Archie, and the whole world was waiting for his debut.
I was either just becoming or about to become a new mom, and I was like, Oh my God, how is this woman doing this? How is this woman putting on heels and going and debuting a child in this, you know, beautiful outfit in front of the entire world?
Wolfe Herd added: I could barely face a doorbell delivery for takeout food in a robe – to which Meghan laughed.
Meghan also called Wolfe Herd a wildly successful female entrepreneur and the kind of friend who just always seems to know the exact right thing to say when I need perspective.
Harry and Meghan with their baby son in St Georges Hall at Windsor Castle on May 8, 2019. Her podcast guest Whitney Wolfe Herd said of this moment: I was either just becoming or about to become a new mom, and I was like, Oh my God, how is this woman doing this?
Meghan speaks with Whitney Wolfe Herd, who founded the female-focused dating app Bumble
The podcast was released shortly before Meghans husband Prince Harry arrived at the High Court in London today for an appeal against a ruling on his legal claim against the Home Office
Wolfe Herd spoke about Meghans brutalising time in the public eye, telling her: I do think there is so much to be said for your ability to exist, even in the presence of that.
It takes a very strong cookie. When I was going through the media storm and being called this and that, and this and that, at Tinder, I didnt leave my house for, like, a month and a half.
Meghan told Wolfe Herd about being absolutely consumed with packaging, adding: Boxes. Its all I could think about. I would sit there doing the unboxing in my head: Is there tissue paper?
What about the packing peanuts, but theyre biodegradable? Where does the sticker go, and what size the box is going to be?
She also made reference to a porch pirate – a term for someone who steals packages left on porches or doorsteps after delivery.
Meghan said: Someone says, But you dont want to brand the outside of the box, because of porch pirates. Had never heard that before. Whats a porch pirate?
Wolfe Herd also said that the one thing you can never get back is time.
She told the Duchess: The amount of time, Meg, that I wasted on being stressed, being miserable, being overwhelmed, being paranoid about what shoe was going to drop. I actually think I would have been more successful had I not been like that.
However, Meghan replied, But can you turn it off? I say this because last night, I was - you know when your brain goes in a loop? Those 3am loops, and you cant stop overthinking the thing.
Wolfe Herd explained how she has followed the rule of fives.
She said: Will this matter in five minutes? Five hours? Five days? Yes or no. If its not going to matter in five years, throw it out the window.
And Wolfe Herd told her: I think you have to really take a deep breath and say, You know what, how big of a deal is this? If this is not going to be a defining issue in your business, your life, your family in five years, like, youll be fine.
She also said: When youre ruminating in the middle of the night and youre like, Oh, but the box came out the wrong texture. Well, is that a problem in five months? Not really because you can switch that box.
They also talked about how having children had change their perspectives on life, with Wolfe Herd telling Meghan: I think being a mother, as you know, nothing comes before that.
One of the four photos posted by Meghan on Instagram today to announce the new show
Meghan is pictured as a child with friends in one of the pictures to launch her new podcast
A photo of Meghan as a child which she released today to help confirm the new shows release
Their well-being is our wellbeing. And so I think it forces you to prioritise in ways that, for me, I never did before.
Meghan also talked about balancing home and work life, and explained how her daughter Lilibet would sometimes come into her office at their property in Montecito, California, following a nap.
She told Wolfe Herd: We became moms in the pandemic, post-pandemic culture, where there is so much working from home… I dont leave the house to go to an office; my office is here.
Lili still naps, she gets picked up early and she naps. She only has a half day in preschool. If she wakes up and wants to find me, she knows where to find me, even if my door is closed to the office.
Shell be sitting there on my lap during one of these meetings with a grid of all the executives… I wouldnt have it any other way. I dont want to miss those moments. I dont want to miss pickup if I dont have to. I dont want to miss drop-off.
The Duchess continued: What I do love the most about having young kids, in this chapter while Im building [my business], is the perspective that it brings because youre building something while your childs going through potty training...and both are just as important…
Its like, Great, OK, wheres the Cheerios? Well done. And then youre championing your team ten minutes later about something that is really high value for the world. In your own world, thats super high value. And in [Lilibets] world, thats super high value.
Wolfe Herd added: Technology is a beautiful tool for parents because you can dial in and be present and do a great job on the call while you sit in the carpool line outside school.
Like, why do I need to be at a desk? I have the same mental opinion in a carpool line.
Wolfe Herd also described Meghan as such an amazing hostess, adding: When you go to your home, youre, like, engulfed in love and coziness, just carry - you - through, and the rest writes itself.
The series is the latest in the former Suits actresss flurry of output after her much-criticised Netflix lifestyle series With Love, Meghan and her new brand As Ever.
The Netflix series was panned by critics, with The Guardian describing it as a gormless lifestyle filler and so pointless it might be the Sussexes last TV show, while The Telegraph branded it insane and an exercise in narcissism.
Meghan also released a series of throwback photos to accompany the podcasts release, saying: Being an entrepreneur can start young. (By the way, all these years later and Im still selling cookies!)
Tune in for the premiere episode of Confessions of a Female Founder featuring my dear friend, @whitney, now streaming wherever you get your podcasts! @lemonadamedia.
The pictures showed her selling cookies while wearing a brown Girl Scouts uniform - a nod to her new lifestyle brand As Ever and its shortbread butter cookies.
The Duchess of Sussexs new TV show With Love, Meghan came out on Netflix on March 4
Lemonada Media co-founders Jessica Cordova Kramer (left) and Stephanie Wittels Wachs
Meghans Spotify contract ended in 2023 after one series of her first podcast Archetypes
The previous Spotify podcast Archetypes about female stereotypes ran for just one series
The Duchess also told the New York Times in an email: I hope Confessions of a Female Founder reminds listeners theyre not alone. These are honest conversations with women whove built from the ground up, faced challenges and kept going.
The newspaper reported that Meghan and Wolfe Herd discussed navigating media scrutiny, shaping a brand, spreading kindness, embracing self-love, prioritising family and finding strategies to tackle it all.
Both the New York Times and People had advance access to the podcast before it was released on Lemonada Media and other platforms such as Spotify and Apple.
A trailer for the show was released on March 25, with Meghan promising girl talk and advice on how to create billion-dollar businesses.
Meghan told one guest to think of the experience as being in a dolphin tank rather than a shark tank, asked another whether she is single now, talks about the laser focus needed in business, and finished her voiceover with: Lets do this, ladies.
The eight-part podcast series is also expected to follow the Duchesss work on her As Ever brand which has now begun selling jam, herbal teas, flower sprinkles and ready-make crepe mix.
The new show is part of a deal signed in February last year with Lemonada Media, which follows her previous series Archetypes which aired on Spotify in 2022.
That show about female stereotypes ran for just one series, and was part of the Sussexes previous £20million deal with Spotify, which ended the year after.