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The Archetypes premiere is here. Meghan Markle’s Spotify podcast is officially underway after the first episode dropped on Aug. 23. The Duchess of Sussex had an in-depth conversation with her friend and tennis champion Serena Williams. Ahead, get details on stand-out moments from Meghan’s Archetypes premiere, from her thoughts on ambition and pregnancy to a scary parenting moment. 

1. Meghan Markle ‘Archetypes’ premiere: She felt the ‘negative connotation’ of ambition when she started dating Prince Harry

Meghan opened up about her own experience with ambition. Particularly how the word took on a different meaning when she started dating Prince Harry. It’s a “dirty, dirty word when it comes to women,” she began, according to Spotify.

“I don’t remember ever personally feeling the negative connotation behind the word ‘ambitious’ until I started dating my now husband,” she told Williams. “And apparently ambition is … a terrible, terrible thing, for a woman that is, according to some.” 

“So, since I’ve felt the negativity behind it, it’s really hard to un-feel it,” she added. “I can’t unsee it, either, in the millions of girls and women who make themselves smaller — so much smaller — on a regular basis.”

2. Meghan Markle alluded to making the ‘right decision’ of leaving royal life

Also during the Archetypes premiere, Meghan seemed to refer to leaving senior royal life behind when discussing Williams’ retirement. 

“I think, you know, I think both of us, or the three of us, really know that sometimes the right decision isn’t the easiest decision,” she said. “It takes a lot of courage, I think, too, to stop something in many ways than to keep going sometimes.”

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex left senior royal life behind in 2020. Today, they live in Montecito, Calif., with their children, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, 3, and Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, 1. 

3. Meghan Markle said 2019 Africa tour continued after a fire in Archie’s room

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The 41-year-old went on to recount how a fire broke out in Archie’s room during her and Harry’s 2019 Africa tour. Archie, then only four-and-a-half months old, was supposed to be napping when a fire started in his room.

Meghan told Williams their “amazing nanny,” Lauren, had taken Archie with her when she went to get a snack. “In that amount of time that she went downstairs,” Meghan said, “the heater in the nursery caught on fire. There was no smoke detector.”

“Someone happened to just smell smoke down the hallway, went in, fire extinguished. He was supposed to be sleeping in there,” she said.

“Everyone’s in tears, everyone’s shaken,” she continued, describing the scene when she and Harry returned. “And what do we have to do? Go out and do another official engagement?”

“I said, ‘This doesn’t make any sense,’” Meghan added. “I was like, ‘Can you just tell people what happened?’ And so much, I think, optically, the focus ends up being on how it looks instead of how it feels,” she said. 

4. Meghan Markle ‘Archetypes’ premiere: She recounted being ‘so tired’ during pregnancy

Williams and Markle also discussed motherhood on the podcast. When Williams shared that she loved being pregnant, Meghan replied her experience wasn’t exactly the same.

“Forget it,” she said. “It’s just like everything. You made pregnancy look so sexy. I just waddled around. I was just tired. So tired. Oh my God.”

Williams shares a 4-year-old daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., with her husband, Alexis Ohanian. 

Meghan’s Archetypes podcast continues with Mariah Carey as the guest in episode 2. 

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