A royal insider has revealed the harsh label Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are struggling to shed as the Sussexes attempt to rebuild their popularity in Britain and the United States.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are reportedly still “haunted” by the label “grifters” more than one year after a Spotify executive lambasted the Sussexes with the barb.

Spotify’s Head of Podcast Innovation and Monetisation Bill Simmons infamously took aim at Harry and Meghan as “f***ing grifters” in July last year after the streaming giant tore up a content partnership with the couple.

Royal commentator Lee Cohen believes the cruel barb still hangs over the Sussexes amid speculation Netflix could follow suit and tear up a contract with Harry and Meghan.

“It all started to change through so many factors and then you have executives in Hollywood calling them… ‘expletive’ grifters,” he told The Sun newspaper on Wednesday.

Spotify spent about $35 million on the Sussexes, more than four times the total company revenue for Meghan’s new podcasting network. Picture by Chris Jackson – Pool/Getty Images.

“Now that (was) just broadcast everywhere, and social media created hashtags calling them ‘Harry and Meghan are grifters’ – what a terrible label to have.”

Mr Simmons reportedly labelled the Sussexes grifters over their workshy attitude after Harry and Meghan produced just 13 hours of usable content in about two years.

Spotify insiders claimed the royal couple failed to meet the productivity benchmarks to receive the full payout from the estimated $35 million deal.

“The f**king grifters. That’s the podcast we should have launched with them,” the Spotify exec said at the time.

Mr Simmons went on to reveal that one of his “best stories” was the time he video-called Prince Harry to try and help him with a podcast idea.

“I’ve got to get drunk one night and tell the story of the Zoom I had with Harry to try and help him with a podcast idea. It’s one of my best stories,” Mr Simmons said.

The demise of the Spotify deal was a low point for the Sussexes and came just months after Harry and Meghan were mercilessly mocked in a viral episode of South Park that lampooned their pleas for “privacy” while simultaneously courting media attention.

South Park ridiculed the couple in an episode called “The Worldwide Privacy Tour”. Picture: Comedy Central

Mr Cohen said the “grifters” comment opened the floodgates on the Sussexes after years of Harry and Meghan profiting off their royal titles through tell-all interviews, books and a reality TV series.

“Grifters is so at the other end of the spectrum from, you know, the Royal Family. It’s unbelievable,” he said.

“But that ‘grifters’ comment will stay with them forever and they’re now the butt of Hollywood jokes by comedians and in cartoons.

“Everyone has their number (now), which is that they’re whingers, complainers and hypocrites.