Meghan Markle is surprise guest at Kerry Washington's birthday with newly single Jessica Alba

Meghan Markle was a surprise guest at Kerry Washington's 48th birthday party this week - days after a damning Vanity Fair article about her and husband Prince Harry was published.

The Duchess of Sussex, 43, was captured very briefly in a fun video showing birthday cakes being presented to Washington, who was also joined by a newly single Jessica Alba, 43.

Meghan, dressed in a sleeveless white top, was filmed smiling and clapping as they sang Happy Birthday at the intimate dinner party held on Thursday.

While Washington and Alba shared numerous photos and clips from the festivities, the former working Royal was not visible in any of them. 

Alba is currently navigating a marital split after separating from Cash Warren. 

The news comes at a challenging time for Meghan and Harry, who were recently dealt a challenging blow by the bombshell Vanity Fair article.  

According to the magazine, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex ran into several snags that saw their lucrative deal with the streaming service, reportedly worth £18million, collapse in just three years.

The couple reportedly failed to yield consistent, successful content for the platform, with one former employee, claiming they were unlike other celebrity podcasters, who will 'turn on the mic and talk'. 

Instead, the source said, the couple 'wanted a big theme that would explain the world, but they had no ideas'.

Some of Harry's bizarre concepts ranged from reviewing hot chocolate every week to interviewing the likes of Putin and Donald Trump about being 'sociopaths'.

Meanwhile, Meghan found it hard to commit to ideas before 'backtracking' and 'watering them down', meaning each episode had to be 'completely reimagined late in production', the article states.

Even when Meghan finally premiered her podcast Archetypes - aimed at empowering women by breaking down gender stereotypes - it failed to take off amid rumours that Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Megan Thee Stallion all declined to appear on it.

The damning profile in the magazine - headlined ‘American Hustle’ - also stated that the Duchess of Sussex could be ‘really, really awful’ when things did not go her way.

Elsewhere, the profile detailed allegations from former employees of Meghan who reportedly felt mistreated during their time working with her.

Elsewhere, the profile detailed allegations from former employees of Meghan who reportedly felt mistreated during their time working with her.

The couple later dismissed the allegations as 'distressing', according to claims in The Times. 

Launched in August 2022, Meghan's podcast intended to explore the labels and stereotypes that hold women back.

Despite a star-studded guest list that included Serena Williams and Mariah Carey, the podcast's initial buzz dwindled. In June 2023, Spotify and the Sussexes' production company, Archewell Audio, announced they were parting ways.

Reports of behind-the-scenes disagreements surfaced, with some sources alleging that Spotify had higher expectations regarding the amount of content produced.

Then, in February last year, Meghan signed a new podcast deal with Lemonada Media, which appeared to suggest that new episodes were on the cards via Instagram, writing, 'We are SO Back!'

'With new episodes of Fail Better, Boneheads, Pop Culture Debate Club AND MORE coming out this week, which podcast are you excited to listen to this week?'

Nestled in the image of podcasts shared by the media group was Markle's Archetype podcast, perhaps indicating that fans can expect new episodes later this year.

Fans flocked to the post's comment section, expressing their desire for new episodes.

The previous episodes of the podcast, dating from August to November 2022, are available to stream on all platforms. 

Meghan's Archetypes podcast about female stereotypes ran for just one series before her lucrative deal with Spotify ended in 2023. 

The later deal came a year after the Duchess and her husband Prince Harry ended their $20million deal with Spotify and three years after it was signed. 

'I'm proud to now be able to share that I am joining the brilliant team at Lemonada to continue my love of podcasting,' Meghan said in a statement in February last year. 

Spotify and the Sussexes's audio production company Archewell Audio released a joint statement saying they have 'mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together'. 

A top Spotify podcast executive had called Prince Harry and Meghan 'f***ing grifters' after they produced only one 13-episode series of a podcast for the company, and then split.

In a statement about her new podcast, Meghan added: 'Being able to support a female-founded company with a roster of thought provoking and highly entertaining podcasts is a fantastic way to kick off 2024. 

'Our plan to re-release 'Archetypes' so that more people can now have access to it, as well as launching a dynamic new podcast are well in the works. I'm so eager to be able to share it soon, and am overjoyed to be joining the Lemonada family.'

Earlier this month, it was revealed Meghan had made the decision to postpone With Love, Meghan due to the devastation of the wildfires in her hometown of Los Angeles.   

The Duchess and Prince Harry visited survivors of the wildfires and were spotted handing out food packages. 

They were also said to have opened their home in Montecito - around 90 miles away from LA - to victims and donated money and essential items.

A statement issued by the Duchess of Sussex on Sunday, three days before the series was scheduled to debut, read: 'I'm thankful to my partners at Netflix for supporting me in delaying the launch, as we focus on the needs of those impacted by the wildfires in my home state of California.'

With Love, Meghan reportedly includes tributes to the California-based royal's home state and her personal ties to it. 

Since officially leaving the Royal Family and moving to California in 2020, the Duke and Duchess have pursued a number of different avenues to bring in revenue.

This includes Prince Harry's bombshell memoir Spare, which he created as part of a $20million deal with Penguin Books. 

The couple also teamed up with Netflix to produce the docu-series called Harry And Meghan, with the streaming giant reportedly paying the pair $100million for the six-episode series.