Meghan Markle has been shortlisted for a prestigious podcast award despite announcing that she is taking a break from podcasting to focus on her lifestyle brand. The Duchess of Sussex released her second podcast series this year, Confessions of a Female Founder, which featured a series of female business owners and friends of hers, who talk about the sector.

Confessions of a Female Founder, streamed by Lemonada Media, is now shortlisted at the 4th Annual Signal Awards in the Business & Culture category. Lemonada Media announced the news on its Instagram page, saying: "We’ve been nominated for THREE @signalawards. Best Host: @hasanminhaj for Hasan Minhaj Doesn’t Know (@HMDK). Business & Culture: Confessions of a Female Founder with @meghan. Self-Improvement: My So-Called Midlife with @reshmasaujani.

"It’s an honor to be recognized[sic], and now we need your support. Cast your vote and help us take these awards home. Every vote matters."

The podcast series, which debuted in April, saw Meghan chat with fellow business founders and pals about the ups and downs of setting up their own business in nine episodes.

Its guests included Bumble's Whitney Wolfe Herd, Girls Who Code's Reshma Saujani, Highbrow Hippie's Kadi Lee, IT Cosmetics' Jamie Kern Lima, Clevr Blends' Hannah Mendoza, FIGS' Heather Hasson, Kitsch's Cassandra Morales Thurswell, SPANX's Sara Blakely and Cécred's Tina Knowles.

Confessions of a Female Founder received scathing reviews from the British media.

The Telegraph gave the series two stars out of five and branded it "insane", while The Guardian also gave the show two stars out of five, saying it is "stomach-turning" and "a bit much".

The Times rated it one star out of five, saying it is full of Meghan's "self love", adding that "it’s a research exercise for her new app. Meghan, after all, is a world expert in self-love."

Earlier this summer, the Duchess said at the time, the podcast was on pause so she can continue focusing on her brand As Ever, and her Netflix show "With Love, Meghan".

She said: "I would love to bring the show back when I am at a different end of my founder journey, when I've gone through Q4 and say, 'Here are my proof points. Here's this. Wow. What a year it's been.'

"Or even longer than that. I think a different time will be so exciting just to be able to compare and contrast.

"But yeah, I know people, I know people want another one. I just made a choice to say it's a really good time to make, to put all of my energy into the thing that I'm building."

The Duchess previously hosted another podcast series on Spotify, titled Archetypes, which ran for 12 episodes before the Sussex couple's deal with the streaming giant ended.

It featured Meghan casually chatting to various A-listers about the stereotypes against women.