Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are said to been given nicknames when they worked with Spotify (
Image: Getty Images)

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are said to have been unaware of the cruel nicknames they were given during their time working with Spotify on their podcast Archetypes

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were reportedly given scathing nicknames by Spotify staff.

The secret monikers for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are said to have been the inventions of disgruntled former employees who worked on their podcast Archetypes, which was dropped in June 2023 after just one series despite a huge £18 million deal with the streaming giant.

Although the podcast, which was hosted by 43-year-old Meghan and aimed to investigate “labels that try to hold women back”, won awards and saw her interview huge guests like Mariah Carey, Serena Williams and Paris Hilton, the decision was taken not to produce a second series in a blow to the former royals.

Now UK royal correspondent Neil Sean has claimed ex-Spotify staff members who worked with Meghan on the show have revealed what they used to call Meghan as a “warning signal” that she was “arriving or on the warpath”. He said: “Ex-staff members told me they decided to christen her ‘Eva.'”

Meghan is said to been called ‘Eva’ after ‘manipulative socialite’ Joan Crawford’s character in Queen Bee ( 
Image:
Bettmann Archive)

Meghan’s Archetypes podcast ran for just one season and was cancelled in 2023 ( 
Image:
Getty Images)

He explained to Fox News: “This wasn’t an engaging pet nickname. The nickname came from the 1955 camp classic ‘Queen Bee’ starring the ultimate diva herself – Joan Crawford…This is because, like the Joan character [Eva Phillips], she stung her victims to pieces. This is exactly how staff felt about working alongside [Meghan].”

The synopsis for the movie says it’s about “a socialite who manipulates everyone around her, only to ruin their lives”. According to the source, Meghan had “no idea” about the nickname she had been given while she worked on the podcast.

Neil also claimed staff told him that behind the scenes they found Meghan “really difficult to deal with” because of her “mood swings” and that they thought she was “quite tough and bossy”. It was further claimed Meghan only wanted “to speak to the person at the top” when she worked alongside staff on the show.

Prince Harry was apparently dubbed ‘Tim Nice-But-Dim’ after the Harry Enfield character ( 
Image:
PA)

Both Meghan and Harry are said to have been unaware of the nicknames given to them by staff ( 
Image:
Getty Images)

And though she started out as “warm and effusive”, whenever something went wrong “often due to Meghan and Harry’s own demands”, it’s claimed Meghan would become “cold and withholding towards the person she perceived to be responsible”, according to Neil’s source. He says he was told: “At the beginning people were beguiled by Meghan’s presence. But it quickly wore off when she became demanding… clearly forgetting her struggling actress days.”

And it wasn’t only Meghan that was given a nickname. Neil claimed that her husband Prince Harry was known as ‘Tim Nice-But-Dim’ in reference to the 1990s British comedy character in Harry Enfield & Chums. Tim, known for his likeable but clueless personality, was supposed to represent ‘low attainers from an affluent background’ and had the catchphrase ‘bloody nice bloke!’
The iconic character is played by Harry Enfield, who also plays Prince Charles in Channel 4 parody series about the royals, The Windsors. The Mirror has reached out to reps for Harry and Meghan and Spotify for comment on this story.