Meghan Markle 'dethrones' Joe Rogan to have the most popular podcast across the world

Meghan Markle has 'dethroned' Joe Rogan on Spotify by taking out the number one spot for the most listened to podcast.

The Duchess of Sussex's first episode of Archetypes pulled in millions of listeners worldwide and managed to climb to number one in the US, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, according to the Daily Mail.

Just two days after its unveiling, the $18 million (AUD $25m or £15m) podcast also clipped the hugely popular Joe Rogan Experience, which has reigned in the number one position for three years. 

Archetypes has been described by the Duchess of Sussex as a ‘podcast where we explore and subvert the labels that try to hold women back.’ 

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In her first episode, Meghan invited tennis star Serena Williams to talk about her career and the misconceptions about ambitious women.

The two pulled back the curtain, revealing their more ‘human’ moments that many don’t get to see.

Meghan even recounted a horrifying experience where a fire broke out in her son’s nursery while she and her husband were on tour in South Africa.

She said: "We get in the car and they say there’s been a fire at the residence... There’s been a fire in the baby’s room."

She added: "I said, ‘This doesn’t make any sense. Can you just tell people what happened?’ And I think the focus ends up being on how it looks instead of how it feels."

"We had to leave our baby... and even though we were being moved into another place afterwards, we still had to leave him and go do another official engagement."

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Following its release, the episode left critics divided.

Showbiz guru Peter Ford slammed Meghan’s latest project calling it an ‘excuse for her to talk about herself’.

While The Australian’s Sophie Elsworth told Sky News Australia that Meghan is a ‘narcissist of the highest order'.

She added: “She had Serena Williams on her first Spotify podcast; basically they just can’t bear men. 

“That’s sort of the take out I took from it, and it’s ‘poor Meghan’. She of course, threw in there a bit of a dig at the royal family yet again. This woman just won’t let up, I just feel so sorry for the Queen, having her be a part of her family.”

But some were quick to defend the Duchess online.

​​One person wrote via Twitter: “I’m sorry but Meghan Markle is a genius for this. A podcast about the words used against women, after she’s been called everything under the sun. A big FU to her haters, but in a very classy and clever way.”

While another shared: “Oh, Meghan’s ambitious, clever and classy spirit rattled you? Good! That’s the whole point.”