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Last month, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry swept through Nigeria and Columbia, with the Duchess appearing in a series of head-turning looks. The couple looked relaxed and happy, but according to reports from their home base in Montecito, a darker mood is sweeping their staff.
According to The Economic Times, the couple have a staff turnover problem. In August, John Kettler, a consultant and Harry and Meghan’s chief of staff resigned after just three months on the job. Sources reported ominously that Kettler had resigned because “There were aspects of [the job] he wasn’t comfortable with.”
Now, Kettler’s resignation that has drawn attention to rumours of a high profile “Sussex Survivors Club” – a group of senior disgruntled ex-staff who’ve fled the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s employment.
While they’re not visible on royal tours, Harry and Meghan (along with the rest of the royal family) employ a host of public relations and communications professionals to manage their image.
In 2022, the Sussexes’ global press secretary, Toya Holness, resigned, and in 2021, Christine Weil Schirmer quit her role as head of PR. Meghan Markle’s top aide and private secretary, Samantha Cohen, resigned the same year.
And, unfortunately, the resignations didn’t stop there.
Other members of the purported “Survivors Club” include previous employees of the Archewell Foundation. These are Catherine St-Laurent, who lasted 12 months as head of Sussexes’ charity; COO Mandana Dayani; content chief Ben Browning, who secured Harry and Meghan’s documentary with Netflix; and marketing chief Fara Taylor. An estimated 18 senior employees have left the Sussexes since they first married in 2018.
In, 2018 Meghan Markle was subject to an internal investigation with communications assistant Jason Knauf writing a formal human resources complaint that read: “I am very concerned that the Duchess was able to bully two PAs out of the household in the last year.” Page Six reported that unnamed palace aides who had worked for Harry and Meghan before stepping back from royal duties claimed Markle had “bullied them” and were routinely “reduced to tears.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, sources have said, “Everyone is terrified of Meghan.” The source continued that Markle: “belittles people” and “doesn’t take advice.” In a comment that will send shivers down the spine of any former employee managed by a nightmare boss, the source added that Markle and Prince Harry both are “poor decision-makers who change their minds frequently.” The source placed most of the blame on Markle, saying “Harry is a very charming person – no airs at all – but he’s very much an enabler, she’s just terrible.”
Since she started dating Prince Harry in 2016, Meghan Markle has been a target for the press. Prince Harry has openly come to his wife’s defence and has said they are too afraid to return to the UK. In 2021, Markle shared in an interview with Oprah that the constant negative media coverage had caused her to “not want to be alive anymore.”
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have so far declined comment.
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