Dan Wootton has accused the Duke and Duchess of Sussex of being work-shy and claimed the collapse of the couple’s podcast deal with Spotify shows why “spoiled royals” will struggle to get by in the “real world”. The GB News host’s opinions come after the Sussexes’ lucrative podcast deal with the streaming giant was ended by mutual agreement.

Mr Wootton, in an op-ed published in MailOnline, wrote: “So while there’ll always be a company stupid enough to flush millions down the loo for the initial PR of being connected to a deal with Harry and Meghan, the opportunity to make an impact as a game changing content creator working with streaming giants who could bring them an audience of billions across the globe has now been dashed.

“It’s a cautionary tale of why spoiled royals will always struggle to cut it in the real world.”

The Archetypes podcast ran for 12 episodes from August last year with Meghan talking to celebrities, historians and experts about the history of stereotypes levelled against women.

Tennis star Serena Williams, singer Mariah Carey, influencer Paris Hilton and actor Mindy Kaling were among the guests.

The joint statement from Archewell and Spotify said: “Spotify and Archewell Audio have mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together.”

But Bill Simmons, who is Head of Podcast Innovation and Monetisation at Spotify, told listeners of his own podcast: “I wish I had been involved in the Meghan and Harry leave Spotify negotiation.

“The f***ing grifters. That’s the podcast we should have launched with them.”

Mr Wootton said the saga “is all catastrophic” for Harry and Meghan’s “woke dream of living an A-list Californian lifestyle” like that of US TV hosts Oprah Winfrey or Ellen DeGeneres.

He claimed the Sussexes wanted to live such a dream “without any of the toil that both those ladies put in five days a week to build their fortune”.

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He pointed to claims from Buckingham Palace staff whom he said had alleged Harry and Meghan were “afraid of hard work”.

But columnist Kevin Maher, writing in The Times, challenged the claim the couple were “grifters”, asking whether “they are in fact geniuses”.

in a breakdown of the Sussexes’ various lucrative deals, he listed £15million from ‘Archetypes’, £81million from Netflix and their involvement in smaller ventures in the media.

Mr Maher estimated Harry and Meghan have managed to pull together some impressive earnings, with “£142,000 per minute, or £8.5million an hour.”

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Mark Borkowski, a public relations and crisis consultant, claimed the Spotify announcement would diminish what the Sussexes could receive from possible future episodes of the series.

He said: “Spotify and all the streamers who did very well out of lockdown are now looking hard at the costs – their algorithms don’t lie.

“If they were successful and they were valued by Spotify they would still be there.”

He added: “It shows that they don’t really have anything interesting to say and more importantly they don’t have critical friends in the centre of their organisation.

“And whatever you are as a content producer, you’ve got to sustain it over a period of time and you need the best team around you.”

In March, The Gracie Awards named the Duchess of Sussex top Entertainment Podcast Host for her Archetypes podcast.

The Archewell Foundation’s latest impact report, covering 2020-22, highlights its work on a number of issues, including the rescue of more than 7,000 people from Afghanistan through its partnership with Human First Coalition as well as the settling of refugees from the war in Ukraine with not-for-profit Welcome.US.

Harry and Meghan stepped down as senior working royals in 2020 and moved to California for personal and financial freedom.

The Spotify deal, along with a more substantial tie-up with Netflix rumoured to be worth in excess of £100million, appeared to vindicate their decision.

But to maintain their lifestyle, which includes paying for security, they need to generate an large income which has always been problematic for members of the monarchy.

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