Meghan Markle’s fire nightmare: amazing revelations from the duchess’ Archetypes podcast with BFF Serena Williams, from Archie’s burning nursery to how Prince Harry helped the tennis legend retire

Aug 25 , 2022

Serena Williams and Meghan Markle shared a heartfelt discussion about motherhood and more in the Archetypes podcast. Photos: @serenawilliams, @meghan_markle_page/Instagram

Meghan Markle’s conversation with Serena Williams had a strong feminist slant and was full of revelations, including the fact that baby Archie once narrowly escaped a fire in his nursery

The tennis veteran recently announced her retirement, but she actually made the decision after chatting with Prince Harry about it for hours …

In late 2020, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry signed a multimillion-dollar deal with Spotify to produce and host a series of podcast episodes. The deal with estimated to be worth around US$25 million and the series was originally expected to air in 2021. However, until now, only one episode has been released under the agreement – a Christmas special featuring celebrity guests and their son Archie in December 2020.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry signed a multimillion-dollar deal with Spotify two years ago. Photo: Handout

But now Markle has released her debut podcast, Archetypes, with an episode called “The Misconception of Ambition with Serena Williams”, in which the two friends speak about the double standards women face when it comes to being ambitious.

The first episode of Meghan Markle’s new podcast series Archetypes features her friend Serena Williams. Photo: @teamsussex_/Instagram

Meghan and Prince Harry left their positions as senior royals in 2020 and now live in California. In a trailer for the Archewell Audio project, Markle said the focus would be on how stereotypes originate and how they prevent women from living their lives.

Archie’s fire scare

Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle were on tour in South Africa when a heater in baby Archie’s bedroom caught fire. Photo: EPA-EFE

In the podcast episode, Markle revealed for the first time that, while on their South Africa tour in 2019, the room then-four-month-old Archie was staying in caught fire. She said she was giving a speech to women and girls and when she was done she was told there had been a fire at the residence they were staying in. Fortunately, Archie’s nanny, known only by her first name Lauren, had taken Archie downstairs with her while she went to get a snack. Right after she left, a heater in the nursery caught fire.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with their son Archie and daughter Lilibet Diana. Photo: Handout

According to Meghan, there was no smoke detector in the room, but somebody had happened to smell smoke. The fire was extinguished but it left everyone shaken as Archie was supposed to be sleeping in that room. She then detailed how even though the family were moved into another place afterwards, “We had to leave our baby. We still had to leave him and go do another official engagement.”

In response to the story and how she had to leave her child to carry on with official responsibilities, Serena responded, “I couldn’t have done that.”