Meghan becomes queen of podcasts as 'Archetypes' dethrones Joe Rogan from US Spotify chart

Her show climbed to No 1 days after its debut with guest Serena Williams

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex's new podcast has knocked 'The Joe Rogan Experience' from the top of Spotify's US podcast charts. Getty Images; AP

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex's podcast Archetypes has overtaken The Joe Rogan Experience to become No 1 on Spotify’s US podcast chart.

The feat comes days after the duchess released the first episode, in which she discuses double standards towards “ambitious” women, with tennis great Serena Williams.

Titled The Misconception of Ambition with Serena Williams, the duchess also revealed how her son, Archie, narrowly escaped a fire in his bedroom, where he was supposed to be sleeping as she and husband Prince Harry toured South Africa in 2019.

The couple dropped their son off, who was 4 months old at the time, with their nanny Lauren, before heading out on an official visit to the Nyanga township, where the duchess gave a speech.

Although a fire broke out in the room Archie was due to sleep in, his nanny had earlier taken him downstairs.

In the first episode of her new podcast 'Archetypes', the duchess revealed how her son Archie narrowly escaped a fire in his bedroom. Getty Images

“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,” said the duchess, who rose to fame through her role in Netflix series Suits.

“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’.”

Archetypes also outperformed HBO Max’s Official Game of Thrones Podcast, focused on the new prequel series, House of the Dragon, which recently set viewing records for the company.

Despite a number of controversies and calls for its boycott last year, The Joe Rogan Experience, hosted by comedian and UFC commentator Joe Rogan, continues to be hugely popular.

Some Twitter users reacted to the news with glee, with one writing: “It is supremely satisfying to know more people are listening to Meghan Markle than Joe Rogan.”

Others questioned how long the duchess's podcast would be able to maintain the momentum: “For what, a week?”

Rogan recently hosted Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg to discuss the Facebook algorithm and the company’s approach to content moderation.

Spotify is thought to have paid $100 million in 2019 for exclusive streaming rights to the podcast, which endured heightened publicity recently over its inclusion of guests with alternative views of Covid-19 vaccines.

Scroll through images of Meghan Markle through the years below

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, celebrating Queen Elizabeth II's platinum jubilee in June. Here 'The National' looks back through her life in pictures. Getty Images

Meghan places flowers at a makeshift memorial outside Uvalde County Courthouse in Texas, in May, after the shooting of 19 children at Uvalde elementary school. AFP

Meghan speaks during the Invictus Games opening ceremony at Zuiderpark in the Netherlands, in April. Getty Images

Prince Harry and Meghan arrive at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum for the Salute to Freedom Gala in New York, in November 2021. AP

Meghan appears on 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' at the Warner Bros lot in Burbank, California, in November 2018. PA

Prince Harry and Meghan appear on the cover of 'Time' magazine's 100 most influential people in the world edition, in September 2021. Reuters

Prince Harry and Meghan speak during a Global Citizen Live event in New York, in September 2021. AFP

Prince Harry and Meghan leave the UN headquarters in New York after a visit in September 2021. AFP

Meghan and Prince Harry pause while getting a tour of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York, in September 2021. AP

Prince Harry and Meghan are interviewed by Oprah Winfrey in March 2021. Reuters

Meghan and Prince Harry shared this image on social media in February 2021 to announce they were expecting their second child. AFP

Meghan and Prince Harry attend the Commonwealth Day Service in London, in March 2020. Getty Images

Meghan and Prince Harry arrive to attend the Mountbatten Music Festival at the Royal Albert Hall, London, in March 2020. Getty Images

Meghan holds her baby son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor during a royal tour of South Africa in September 2019. Getty Images

Meghan and Prince Harry visit Auwal Mosque, the first and oldest mosque in South Africa, in the Bo Kaap district of Cape Town, in September 2019. Reuters

Meghan meets Beyonce Knowles-Carter and Jay-Z as they attend the European Premiere of Disney's 'The Lion King' at Leicester Square in London, in July 2019. Getty Images

Meghan and Prince Harry pose with their newborn son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor at Windsor Castle in May 2019. Getty Images

Meghan, joined by her mother Doria Ragland, shows her new son to Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip at Windsor Castle in May 2019. AP

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and Meghan arrive to attend a Christmas Day church service on the Sandringham estate in December 2018. Getty Images

Prince William, Catherine, Prince Harry and Meghan attend a service marking the centenary of the First World War armistice at Westminster Abbey, in November 2018. Getty Images

Meghan poses in Sydney during a tour of Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand, in October 2018. Getty Images

Meghan holds an umbrella for Prince Harry as he addresses the public during a Community Event in Dubbo, Australia, in October 2018. Getty Images

Meghan helps to prepare food at an event to mark the launch of a cookbook with recipes from a group of women affected by the Grenfell Tower fire, at Kensington Palace, in September 2018. Getty Images

Catherine and Meghan attend the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships in London in July 2018. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth, Meghan, Prince Harry, Prince William and Catherine watch the RAF 100th anniversary flypast from the balcony of Buckingham Palace in July 2018. Getty Images

Meghan, Prince Harry and Queen Elizabeth at the Queen's Young Leaders Awards Ceremony at Buckingham Palace in June 2018. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth sits and laughs with Meghan during a ceremony to open the new Mersey Gateway Bridge in Cheshire, in June 2018. Getty Images

Prince Harry and Meghan leave St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on their wedding day in May 2018. Getty Images

Meghan and Prince Harry wave as they leave Windsor Castle after their wedding to attend an evening reception at Frogmore House, in May 2018. Getty Images

Meghan and her mother, Doria Ragland, arrive at Cliveden House Hotel in Berkshire to spend the night before her wedding to Prince Harry in May 2018. Getty Images

Prince Harry and Meghan during a photo call to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace, in November 2017. Getty Images

Meghan appears as character Rachel Zane in American TV show 'Suits', in 2011. Getty Images

Meghan while working as a host on American quiz show 'Deal Or No Deal' in 2006. Getty Images