Meghan Markle's new podcast could face competition from podcast launched by Prince Harry's ex-girlfriend
Prince Harry's wife, Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex and arguably the most controversial member of the British Royal Family, is no stranger to media-fueled drama, and she now has even more of it headed her way.
Just as Markle is set to launch a new podcast next month, it was announced that Harry's ex-girlfriend, British actress and model Cressida Bonas, will be doing almost exactly the same thing, according to gossip site SheKnows.
Both podcasts will be launching within a week of each other, and while the programs likely won't be in direct competition with one another, given their focus on different subject matters, the coincidental close timing of the two has raised some eyebrows among those who obsess over the Royals and their goings-on.
Bonas' new podcast on motherhood
On March 19, Prince Harry's former flame, Bonas, jointly announced on Instagram with her sister, Isabella Branson, that they would launch a new podcast at the end of the month called "Lessons From Our Mothers."
"Have you ever stopped to think about the maternal figures in your life and how they have shaped who you are today?" the co-hosts asked in the promotional post. "Have you ever asked them about their own experiences, or thought about the lessons that you have learned from them?"
"Lessons From Our Mothers is a series of conversations that celebrate motherhood and mothering in all its forms," the sisters continued. "When our own mum fell ill last year, we set out to ask her all the questions that we had never thought to ask -- and now, we’re on a sisterly mission to find out the stories of some special guests (and their mothers) through this podcast."
"There’s been some laughter, some tears and a lot of wisdom … and cake with Mary Berry, of course," they added in reference to the star of the popular TV series "The Great British Bake Off."
SheKnows pointed out the many celebrity guests who will appear on the program co-hosted by Bonas and Branson, including Princess Eugenie, who, along with her husband, has been close friends with Harry and Meghan since before they were married.
Markle's new podcast on businesswomen
Meanwhile, less than a week before that announcement, Markle revealed in a March 13 Instagram post that she would be launching a new podcast on April 8 titled "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," Markle wrote. "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! (Because what’s the point if we can’t have some fun on this wild adventure?)," she added.
Harry and Cressida dated for two years before his marriage to Meghan
According to Us Weekly, Prince Harry and Cressida Bonas dated for around two years, beginning in 2012 and going their separate ways in 2014, albeit reportedly on good terms -- indeed, Bonas was an invited guest to Harry's 2018 wedding to Markle.
Ironically enough, given her close friendship with Markle, it was Princess Eugenie who first introduced actress and model Bonas to the young prince and even helped their relationship develop beyond an initially "painfully awkward" first date in which Harry botched an attempted kiss.
Harry later shared in his memoir, "Spare," some of the details of his relatively brief romance with Bonas and credited her with helping him to finally, decades later, fully deal with the pent-up emotions of the death of his mother, Princess Diana, in 1997.