Prince Harry and Meghan Markle faced a fresh professional blow this summer when their chief of staff, Josh Kettler, resigned from his post after just three months in the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s employ. This wouldn’t be too alarming if it was just an isolated incident, but Kettler stands as the latest in a long, ever-growing line of employees to have bolted from the couple’s side within the last few years.
Now that they have cut themselves off from the Royal family, Harry and Meghan have done everything they can to remake themselves as an independent brand — even recently changing their children’s names to fit that brand. Unfortunately, the Sussexes’ maybe haven’t been as successful in their endeavors as they would’ve hoped, and some eyebrow-raising new accusations might just suggest the root cause.
“She’s just terrible”: Meghan Markle blasted by former employees, but at least Prince Harry is “very, very charming”
The Hollywood Reporter has grabbed attention with an investigative piece that appears to lift the lid on what’s really been going on behind the scenes between the Sussexes and their many members of staff who have walked. Titled “Why Hollywood Keeps Quitting on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle?” the piece quotes several unnamed ex-employees who have some pretty damning things to say about the duchess.
It’s a fact that 18 senior employees of the couple have deserted their positions across Harry and Meghan’s marriage so far, which is a shockingly high number for just six years. According to THR, some of these former staff members have even taken to calling themselves “the Sussex Survivors Club” as they’ve bonded over the shared trauma of being put through the ringer by the duo. Or, at least, one of the duo, as per what one source had to say.
“Everyone’s terrified of Meghan,” claims an unnamed source supposedly close to the Sussexes. “She belittles people, she doesn’t take advice. They’re both poor decision-makers, they change their minds frequently. Harry is a very, very charming person — no airs at all — but he’s very much an enabler. And she’s just terrible.”
Multiple people who used to work for Meghan told THR that she is so prone to making “noisy tantrums” and sending “angry 5 a.m. emails” that her employees have nicknamed her “Duchess Difficult.” Another source alleged: “She’s absolutely relentless. She marches around like a dictator in high heels, fuming and barking orders. I’ve watched her reduce grown men to tears.”
This isn’t the first time Meghan has publicly been accused of bullying her underlings. In 2018, her alleged verbally abusive behavior towards two Royal aides led to much backlash in the British press, which Harry and Meghan claimed was merely a “calculated smear campaign,” something that only contributed to their ultimate decision to leave the U.K. in 2020.
In contrast to these claims, Markle herself has stated how she believes she suffers from a lack of confidence in asserting herself. “I find myself cowering and tiptoeing into a room,” the duchess admitted in a recent episode of her Archetypes podcast, before stressing that this is something about herself she is trying to work on. “Just say what it is that you need. You’re allowed to set a boundary. You’re allowed to be clear, it doesn’t make you demanding. It doesn’t make you difficult, it makes you clear.’”
Harry and Meghan have yet to officially respond to these fresh accusations. The couple are in the middle of an incredibly busy month — what with Harry’s 40th birthday celebrations coming up. Even so, maybe it’s time for Markle to give her bookstore buddy Oprah a call to arrange another interview.