Meghan Markle reveals son Archie narrowly escaped bedroom fire in Archetypes podcast

First episode sees the duchess speak to Serena Williams about motherhood and societal double standards towards women

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Brandon Maxwell, attends the Your Commonwealth Youth Challenge reception at Marlborough House on July 5, 2018 in London, England

Queen Elizabeth II and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Givenchy, visit the Storyhouse on June 14, 2018 in Chester, England

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Carolina Herrera, and Delfina Figueras arrive for the Sentebale Polo at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club on July 26, 2018 in Windsor, England

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Emilia Wickstead, attend the official opening of the Anzac Memorial at Hyde Park on October 20, 2018 in Sydney, Australia

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Safiyaa, arrive at the Royal Albert Hall on March 7, 2020 in London, England

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Emilia Wickstead, attend the annual Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey on March 9, 2020 in London, England

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Givenchy, leave St George's Chapel after their wedding ceremony on May 19, 2018 in Windsor, England

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Dior, attends an event to mark the centenary of the RAF on July 10, 2018 in London, England

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Martin Grant, visit Bondi Beach on October 19, 2018 in Sydney, Australia

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in a Sentaler coat, at a community market on January 14, 2019 in Birkenhead, England

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Figue, visits the University of the South Pacific on October 24, 2018 in Suva, Fiji

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Givenchy, attends The Fashion Awards at Royal Albert Hall on December 10, 2018 in London, England

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Carolina Herrera, and Prince Harry on February 25, 2019 in Rabat, Morocco

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Stella McCartney, and Prince Harry leave Windsor Castle after their wedding to attend an evening reception at Frogmore House on May 19, 2018 in Windsor, England

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Oscar de la Renta, attend the Australian Geographic Society Awards at the Shangri-La Hotel in Sydney, Australia, on October 26, 2018

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Erdem, and Prince Harry attend a Commonwealth Day Youth Event at Canada House on March 11, 2019 in London, England

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Self-Portrait, arrive at Fua'amotu Airport on October 25, 2018 in Nuku'Alofa, Tonga

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Safiyaa, arrive for a state dinner on October 23, 2018 in Suva, Fiji

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, in Ralph & Russo, pose for an official engagement portrait on December 21, 2017

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, in Theory, attend a street dance class during their visit to Star Hub community and leisure centre in Cardiff, Wales, on January 18, 2018

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Prada, Prince Harry and Queen Elizabeth II attend the Queen's Young Leaders Awards Ceremony at Buckingham Palace on June 26, 2018 in London, England

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, in Burberry, arrive at Social Bite cafe in Rose Street on February 13, 2018 in Edinburgh, Scotland

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, in a coat by Line The Label, announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace on November 27, 2017 in London, England

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Zimmermann, arrive at Nausori Airport on October 23, 2018 in Suva, Fiji

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Roland Mouret, attend the Cirque du Soleil premiere of 'Totem' at Royal Albert Hall on January 16, 2019 in London, England

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Jason Wu, attend the premiere of Disney's 'The Lion King' at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 14, 2019 in London, England

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in a Reiss coat, arrives for her visit with Prince Harry to Canada House on January 7, 2020 in London, England

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Jason Wu, arrive at the 100 Days to Peace gala in London, England on September 6, 2018

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Theia, attend a state dinner at the Royal Residence on October 25, 2018 in Nuku'alofa, Tonga

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Karen Walker, attend a wreath laying ceremony at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park on October 28, 2018 in Wellington, New Zealand

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in a Hugo Boss skirt, and Prince Harry at The University of Chichester Tech Park during an official visit to Sussex on October 3, 2018 in Chichester, England

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Brandon Maxwell, attends the Your Commonwealth Youth Challenge reception at Marlborough House on July 5, 2018 in London, England

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Oscar de la Renta, attend the Coach Core Awards held at Loughborough University on September 24, 2018 in Loughborough, England

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Givenchy, arrive at a public walkabout at the Rotorua Government Gardens on October 31, 2018 in Rotorua, New Zealand

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in a Martin Grant coat, arrive at the Sydney Opera House on October 16, 2018 in Sydney, Australia

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Martin Grant, meets Prime Minister S Akilisi Pohiva on October 26, 2018 in Nuku'alofa, Tonga

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Brock Collection, arrives to visit the Royal Variety Charity's residential nursing and care home Brinsworth House, in Twickenham, London, on December 18, 2018

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Veronica Beard, and Prince Harry visit District 6 Museum on September 23, 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in a Club Monaco trench, visits the Maranui Cafe in Wellington, New Zealand, on October 28, 2018

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Ralph Lauren, attends the Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 14, 2018 in London, England

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in La Ligne, pose with son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor in an image released on March 8, 2021

The first instalment of Meghan Markle's much-anticipated Archetypes podcast has been released on Spotify, featuring a discussion with tennis great Serena Williams on societal double standards towards “ambitious” women and how they felt as mothers.

Entitled “The Misconception of Ambition with Serena Williams”, the duchess recounts how her son Archie narrowly escaped a fire in his bedroom where he was supposed to be sleeping during the Sussexes’ tour of South Africa in 2019.

Archie’s nanny at the time, named only as Lauren, had taken the 4-month-old with her downstairs as she went to get a snack when the heater in the nursery caught fire.

“There was no smoke detector. Someone happened to just smell smoke down the hallway, went in, fire extinguished,” said the Duchess. "[Archie] was supposed to be sleeping in there.”

The former Suits star told how they had dropped their young son at the housing unit they were staying in for a sleep straight after arriving on their official tour, before leaving to carry out a visit to the Nyanga township where the duchess delivered a speech.

“There was this moment where I’m standing on a tree stump and I’m giving this speech to women and girls, and we finish the engagement, we get in the car and they say there’s been a fire at the residence. What? There’s been a fire in the baby’s room,” she said.

“We came back. And, of course, as a mother, you go, ‘Oh, my God, what?’ Everyone’s in tears, everyone’s shaken. And what do we have to do? Go out and do another official engagement? I said, ‘This doesn’t make any sense’.”

Prince Harry's cameo

Prince Harry also makes an appearance in the episode, with Meghan saying: “You wanna come say hi? Look who just popped in.”

The duchess and Williams greet Harry with “Hello” in British accents, with Harry telling the 23-time grand slam champion: “I like what you’ve done with your hair. That’s a great vibe.”

Williams replies: “Thank you. Good to see you too as always, I miss you guys.”

The duke responds: “Well come and see us”, with Meghan Markle saying they will make a plan.

As he leaves, the duchess says: “Thanks my love.”

The duchess also talks about how her experience of the way ambition is perceived changed after embarking on her relationship with Prince Harry.

“I don’t remember ever personally feeling the negative connotation behind the word ambitious until I started dating my now husband,” she said.

Serena Williams reveals the prince helped her with the decision to retire from tennis long before it was announced, spending around an hour discussing the issue with her.

Meghan Markle, who quit the monarchy as a senior working royal, says: “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.”

“It takes a lot of courage, I think, too, to stop something in many ways than to keep going sometimes,” she tells Williams, in not so thinly veiled allusion to her so-called “Megxit”.

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