Photographer Gives Verdict on What’s Wrong With Meghan Markle’s Podcast Cover Photo
Just over a week after the release of her lifestyle show on Netflix, Meghan Markle announced that she has a brand new podcast coming out titled Confessions of a Female Founder. This is the former Suits star‘s second podcast as her Archetypes series on Spotify was canceled in 2023 after just one season.
The duchess made the announcement regarding her new audio series via Instagram on March 13, 2025, with a photo of her in a blue blouse and her hair tied back as she looks at the camera.
She captioned it: “I’m so excited to share with you something else I’ve been working on: Confessions of a Female Founder … I’ve been having candid conversations with amazing women who have turned dreams into realities and scaled small ideas into massively successful businesses. They’re opening up, sharing their tips, tricks (and tumbles), and letting me pick their brains as I build out my own business, As ever. It has been absolutely eye-opening, inspiring … and fun! First episode is April 8th!”
Now, a photographer is sharing what message Meghan is trying to get across to her audience and the problem with that message.
Photographer shares insight into how Meghan is trying to come across in the cover shot
Joe Miles is the Course Director of Photography at Birmingham City University. He analyzed the lighting as well as Meghan’s pose and what the Duchess of Sussex’s team seemed like they were trying to convey in the cover shot.
He told Express: “The fact that Meghan is holding her hand in that position, makes it look like she was in the middle of doing something. It’s an ‘I’ve just stopped to turn and look at you’ pose. It’s designed to draw us in and flatter us as a viewer.”
Miles added: “The very flat, even lighting suggests Meghan’s creating an ‘I’m a working woman’ persona. Because she still looks very made up and is also pulling an elegant pose. It also showcases ‘I am someone you aspire to.’ It’s a clever combination of the two.”
The problem with Meghan’s pose in the picture
However, the former commercial and portrait photographer did see an issue with the final product.
According to Miles, “This image feels too posed and too dull. It’s almost quite grey. The problem is, if you go so far in trying to make an image look natural, it ends up not looking natural. They’re forcing her to look accessible and ‘everyday,’ but it can end up backfiring.”
He also discussed the differences between Meghan’s Confessions of a Female Founder podcast cover image from her Archetypes cover photo. He believes that Prince Harry’s wife‘s first podcast cover showed her looking more “honest” explaining: “The Archetypes cover shows Meghan being very honest — wearing a vest, hair down, looking straight on, in black and white. But this [new image] is another persona, almost somewhere between the two.”
