Meghan Markle's podcast decision 'doesn't make sense' as Duchess slammed by expert

has been slammed by a royal expert this week who claims one of her decisions surrounding her new podcast "doesn't make sense". Since the launch of last week, The Duchess of Sussex, 43, has released two episodes in which she sits down with fellow female businesswomen for candid conversations.

While the podcast has , royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams said the decision to release her podcast between 8am and 9am in the UK - which is just after midnight in California - does not make much sense. Speaking to , Fitzwilliams said the duchess should have released the episodes at a time better suited to a US audience. Talking about the timing of the podcast release in Britain, Mr Fitzwilliams said: "This strategy doesn't make sense, and the listening figures are not impressive either."

He continued: "Meghan is excoriated in Britain and her popularity ratings have been dreadful for years. In the latest YouGov she only rates positive with 17% against 57 % negative.

"Harry's current attempt to get automatic security for his family obviously means that she would benefit if he wins. However, one must ask if she would wish to come to Britain given the mutual hostility between the Sussexes and the press and her unfavourable ratings.

"Who, one might wonder, did she expect to be listening to her Confessions chat between 8-9am in Britain? She chose the co-founder of the dating app Bumble (for the first episode), surely a time to suit a potential audience in the US would have been more sensible."

The podcast has two episodes so far. In the first, Meghan talks to Bumble founder and close friend Whitney Wolfe Herd. In the second episode, the duchess has a candid conversation with Reshma Saujani, who has founded two successful nonprofits that close the gender gap for women.

At the moment, the podcast is in the top 10 on Spotify's podcast charts. It has been ranked as number 70 in the Apple overall top podcast charts.

However, in the business category on Apple podcasts, the duchess' series currently ranks as the third most popular.

The is set to be released next Tuesday.