'Love always wins,' Duke and Duchess of Sussex tell listeners in their first podcast
It has been almost a year to the day since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced that they would be stepping back as senior royals, prompting dismay from Buckingham Palace and bitter recriminations from both sides.
Yet few could deny that the couple have had quite a year, snapping up a sprawling Californian mansion and signing a string of lucrative business deals.
Perhaps mindful of their triumph in the face of perceived adversity, the couple used their first Spotify podcast on Tuesday to send a poignant message to their supporters, telling them: "Trust us when we say love always wins."
They reinforced the message with a personal song choice, "Amen, This Little Light of Mine", by Karen Gibson and the Kingdom Choir, which was played at their wedding, as they wished listeners a Happy New Year.
"Not a toast per se, but a song, which is about shining a light," the Duke said. "The message of this song is one we hold so dearly. It's about using the power we each have within us to make this world a better place."
The Duchess quoted Martin Luther King as she said: "It was the music that we wanted playing when we started our lives together. Because as we all know, 'darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that'."
The 30-minute "holiday special" podcast, the first from the couple's newly-formed production company, Archewell Audio, reflected on the difficulties faced by many in the face of the global pandemic, focusing on the positives and the connections made as a result.
They invited a host of guests, from stars such as Sir Elton John and James Corden to British poets Hussain Manawer and George the Poet, to record audio diaries in order to see how they would reflect when they had "a moment to themselves".
"As we all know, it's been a year," the Duke said. "And we really want to honour the compassion and kindness that has helped so many people get through it."
The Duchess said: "We thought, what if we can bring together some people that inspire us – people that we admire – and get their thoughts on what they learned from 2020. We wanted to know what they would remember from this year, how they would explain it to future generations, what they learned about themselves and what gives them hope. It all came back to one thing – the power of connection."
The episode also included musings from novelist Matt Haig, José Andrés, the chef who founded World Central Kitchen, which has received funding from Archewell, the Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka and teenage British activist Christina Adane.
Brené Brown, the "world's biggest self-help guru", of whom the Sussexes are big fans, Tyler Perry, the actor who lent them his LA mansion, and spiritual healer Deepak Chopra also reflected on their year.
The Duke said he hoped the episode would "bring a little warmth, a smile, and something to think about".
Listeners also heard the voice of the couple's son, Archie, for the first time as he followed his father's instructions to speak into the microphone, declaring the experience "fun". With an endearing giggle, he copied the Duke word by word as he said, with the faintest hint of an American twang: "Happy New Year."
As the couple closed the episode, the Duchess said: "From us I'll say no matter what life throws at you guys, trust us when we say love wins." The Duke echoed: "Love always wins."
