MEGHAN Markle is a difficult ‘dictator’ who has upset too many people, a royal expert claimed.
Esteemed author Robert Jobson told The Sun’s Royal Exclusive show how the Duchess of Sussex, 43, has had a “number of staff turnovers”.
Meghan Markle’s high staff turnover prove she is difficult to work for, claimed an expert[/caption]
Speaking to The Sun’s royal editor Matt Wilkinson, the expert claimed this could be a key red flag the mum-of-two is difficult to work for.
Mr Jobson said: “The reality is there are a number of people who dislike her, and are leaning quite heavily against her.
“But then the whole business of named members of staff does seem to me, do they protest too much, there must be a little bit of truth in it.
“We know what happened from when she was based over here. There’s been a lot of changeover, a number of staff turnovers.
“But I think she probably does get bad press and it is an easy shot.”
It comes after Meghan was hit by a fresh wave of allegations from former employees and was branded a “demon” boss who had “psycho moments”.
Earlier this week a former courtier who worked for the Sussexes claimed during their time with the duchess “there definitely were bad, very bad, even psycho moments.”
The unnamed source is quoted as saying: “I witnessed people being chewed up in person and over the phone and made to feel like s**t”, as reported by The Daily Beast website.
It comes at an incredibly awkward time as Meghan is about to launch a cookery show and cook book to go alongside her new lifestyle brand, named American Riviera Orchard.
The former employee who spoke to the Daily Beast dismissed the Us Weekly article as a cynical exercise, saying: “She is lovely when it is all going her way but a demon when the worm turns.”
It follows a recent story in another US publication, The Hollywood Reporter, that described Meghan’s management style as like a “dictator in high heels” who reduced “grown men to tears”.
There were also claims that she “barks” out orders and sends angry emails at 5am.
An insider told The Sun: “The Sussexes were left reeling by The Hollywood Reporter’s story.
“It appears that the Us Weekly story was sanctioned by the couple as even Archewell’s current global head of communications, Ashley Hansen, was quoted by name.”
Meghan’s team were already trying to dismiss those earlier allegations — said to be gleaned from a number of current and former staff.
Five current and former employees of Meghan went on the record to defend her, saying she is the “best boss ever”.
Us Weekly, a magazine known to be friendly to the royal couple, went in to bat for them with an article headlined “What It’s Really Like To Work For Meghan Markle: Staffers Reveal Truth Behind Rumours”.
The article was widely dismissed as a puff piece, with speculation it was potentially orchestrated by Meghan’s PR team.
Speculation was sparked in August when the Sussexes Chief of Staff Josh Kettler joined a long list of staff who left the couple.
Sussex staff resignations
By Robert Jobson
AN astonishing 18 members of staff have quit working for them in just a few years — nine since they moved to Montecito, California.
In late 2018, Meghan’s personal assistant Melissa Toubati quit.
It also emerged senior communications secretary Katrina McKeever left the Press team the same month.
Not long after, private secretary Samantha Cohen resigned.
In January 2019 Meghan’s female bodyguard of six months, who has never been named for security reasons, also quit.
By March, senior communications secretary Jason Knauf jumped ship and went to work for Prince William and Kate’s Royal Foundation.
Meghan also went through three nannies in just six weeks after baby son Archie was born in May 2019.
Harry and Meghan’s PR chief Sarah Latham left the couple after they quit the UK in 2020.
Meghan parted ways with talent agent Nick Collins, of The Gersh Agency, who was with her since she was a struggling actress.
And her close friend Keleigh Thomas-Morgan, a partner at Hollywood PR firm Sunshine Sachs, split from Meghan after the couple moved to the US.
The Sussexes recruited Toya Holness, former communications chief for New York City Department of Education, but she lasted 18 months and left shortly after the Invictus Games in 2022.
Just a year after their Megxit dash, Catherine St-Laurent was ousted as chief executive of their charitable foundation Archewell.
Meanwhile, Mandana Dayani, who was made president of Archewell, stepped down after less than 18 months in her role.
Oscar-nominated film producer Ben Browning was named head of content at Archewell in March 2021. The foundation was supposed to be producing documentaries and podcasts.
But podcast Archetypes was dropped by Spotify and he left in January 2023.
Two months earlier, Rebecca Sanares left her role as head of audio at Archewell.
In July, Prince Harry’s charity chief Dominic Reid quit his role as chief executive of the Invictus Games Foundation.
His departure came just days after Harry was blasted for choosing to accept the Pat Tillman Award for Service at the 2024 ESPYS.
Meanwhile, Bennett Levine, their manager of Archewell Productions, left earlier this year.
And, the Oscar-nominated producer Ben Browning, quit as head of internal content at the company in January last year
A spokesperson for the Sussexes was contacted for comment.
By Summer Raemason
PRINCE Harry and Meghan Markle are “very difficult to work for” and “it’s not a coincidence” staff are jumping ship, claimed a royal expert.
Esteemed royal historian Hugo Vickers believes the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have a “very serious” problem as another senior employee quits.
Their Chief of Staff, Josh Kettler, threw in the towel after just three months, ahead of the controversial Colombia tour, a source told The Sun.
It marks a long string of resignations under Harry and Meghan’s employ, with 18 staff members leaving since their marriage in 2018.
Mr Vickers told The Sun: “Well, it’s certainly not a coincidence.
“Obviously they are very difficult to work for, and it’s always in the sense it’s always the worst possible sign.
“If people can’t keep members of staff or household secretaries, advisors, and so forth, this invariably means that there’s a clash of personalities, and if they’ve lost 18 people which doesn’t actually surprise me.
“I think it’s definitely their fault, and not the fault of the these people who come in.
“And the interesting thing, of course, is that it’s being suggested the latest casualty Josh Kettler is not leaving on account of the Columbia tour, which again, is worse, because it implies that he’s leaving for another reason.
“You could imagine that it would have been a very good excuse. That looks very serious to me.”
The royal expert alleged some of Harry and Meghan’s business moves would make it difficult for staff.
He highlighted their Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan, and the duke’s sensational memoir Spare.
“It does seem to be to be as though they’re clutching at straws,” Mr Vickers said in a particularly stinging comment.
“But it’s a very bad sign if people can’t keep staff, because it shows that they are difficult to work for, and one of the reasons I suspect they’re difficult to work for is because there isn’t really a set of goal posts, they’re moving the whole time, and nobody quite knows where they are – and that’s to be charitable to them.”
