Employees of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, rally behind them to defend the royals from false accusations. Photo / Getty Images
No longer bound by royal protocols, the Duke and Duchess are using the media to pour cold water on negative gossip about their behaviour.
Nestled in the September 11 issue of The Hollywood Reporter, a trade magazine for the US film and television industries, was a short article entitled: “Why Hollywood Keeps Quitting on Harry and Meghan.”
Described as “insider industry gossip”, the report provided a run-down of the comings and goings of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s staff, noting colloquially that “they’ve chewed up yet another American adviser” in the shape of Josh Kettler, who had spent a few months as Harry’s chief of staff before parting ways.
The article contained colourful descriptions of life working for the Sussexes.
“Everyone’s terrified of Meghan,” one anonymous source told the publication, claiming she “belittles people” and “doesn’t take advice”. A second quote described the Duchess marching around “like a dictator in high heels, fuming and barking orders”.
Prince Harry was a “very, very charming person” but “very much an enabler”, it said, while the couple are both “poor decision-makers” who changed their minds frequently.
According to one claim, triumphantly adopted by Meghan’s fans on social media as a positive selling point, “I’ve watched her reduce grown men to tears.”
The article also rehearsed an old allegation levelled at the Duchess, dating back to before the pair’s move to the US, that she had a “penchant” for sending “angry 5am emails” to staff.
The report – in a business column billed as “what Hollywood pros are really talking about” – went little noticed outside of the industry bubble. It didn’t make the magazine’s own cover.
But it seems to have touched a nerve.
The response to the anonymous allegations have arguably been even more telling than the report itself.
First, an anonymous Sussex source poured cold water on the claims in briefings to journalists. Then an Archewell source released Meghan’s email signature as evidence: far from expecting a response to those famous, alleged 5am emails, she tells people: “My working day may not be your working day. Please do not feel obliged to reply to this email outside your normal working hours.”
The latest round of the Duke and Duchess’ apparent fightback was launched on Tuesday on the cover of another US celebrity magazine, Us Weekly. The critical quotes by anonymous sources were reproduced on the cover along with the headline: “The Truth about Meghan: HER STAFF BREAK THEIR SILENCE.”
Inside is a roll-call of former staff queuing up to wax lyrical about the Duke and Duchess, who they say are, in fact, the “best bosses” they have ever had.
Ben Browning, the couple’s former head of content, told the outlet “we all continue to be friends”.
Catherine St-Laurent, another former chief of staff, said the time she spent working with Prince Harry and Meghan was “incredibly meaningful to me”.
Kettler himself offered the testimony that he was “warmly welcomed” during his short stint.
For Mandana Dayani, formerly Archewell’s COO, “Part of the profound injustice of having to speak publicly on this in light of these endless and damaging narratives is that so much of the kindness, mentorship and support that Prince Harry and Meghan share with others happens quietly behind closed doors.”
Current anonymous staff members paint a picture of the Sussexes that approaches sainthood. They enjoy personal chit-chat with Prince Harry, gifts from Meghan, “top-notch” hand-me-down baby gifts from Archie and Lili for new parents and “a basket with fresh flowers, fresh fruit, fresh eggs” for anyone who visits their Montecito home.
One was sent a “luxury brand leash and new collar” after adopting a dog, and another who was suffering from a skin complaint was given a care kit put together by Meghan.
Having picked the “best of the best from every field” to work for them, the Sussexes “watered the seeds for them to flourish”, said one staffer with a poetic flourish.
Another insisted that the Duchess does not raise her voice but “gives clear direction and is solution-oriented”, suggesting that the current team (which, we’re assured, “isn’t a criminal organisation”) is united: “If you come for our bosses, you’re coming for us.”
Ashley Hansen, who as global press secretary to the Sussexes is responsible for guarding their reputations, told the magazine that when she needed time off for surgery, the supportive Duke and Duchess cared for her with “the kind of concern and care a parent would express if it were their own child”. They were in daily contact with her husband to offer support, she said.
Sussex supporters quoted in the piece agreed that negative reports are “predictable”, “false”, and “likely made up by someone who’s disgruntled”.
It is certainly a robust response – and it is not the first.
For those who have followed the drama of the Sussexes for some time, the US Weekly article sounds familiar.
In 2019, five of Meghan’s friends gave similar testimony to People magazine to defend her against what they called “global bullying”. They said the Duchess kept a box of hand warmers for Kensington Palace guards in cold weather, ordered gourmet burgers to the set of Suits during her time starring in the show, and once ordered an “incredible ice cream and sorbet” stall for staff, resulting in what one courtier described as the “best day of work ever”.
The Sussexes, it is clear, have got what they could only dream of while in the Royal family: the ability to answer whatever criticism they face, wherever they find it.
Where they were once advised against responding to everything they objected to – reports that “Meghan made Kate cry” and that they “blindsided” the late Queen with their Megxit announcement being particular points of irritation – they are now free to do so.
Others occasionally offered such responses on their behalf. In August 2019, Elton John posted an online defence of the couple for using his private jet to go on holiday. Unfortunately, this made a story about the Sussexes making four private jet journeys in 11 days wildly more interesting.
Separately, staff members were asked to provide testimony in support of the Duchess while Buckingham Palace was investigating a bullying complaint against her, it is claimed.
The Sussex team is now publicly batting for the couple – with far less discretion.
The response to the latest briefing is mixed. Their fans, as ever, are thrilled at named people showing their support.
Others wonder about the wisdom of drawing greater attention to the original claims, particularly as the story risks overshadowing appearances by Prince Harry in New York, where he is delivering speeches about his charity work. For those who missed the Hollywood Reporter article, US Weekly’s front cover points out that Meghan has been “branded a dictator who terrifies employees and reduced grown men to tears”.
One British source wearily described the choice of publication, a tabloid magazine, as a “new low”.
The article has already sparked yet another briefing, published the next day by The Daily Beast and headlined: “Former Employees of ‘Demon’ Boss Meghan Markle Recall ‘Psycho Moments’.” The couple declined to comment on the latest claims.
Having once sworn off dealing with the British tabloid press, the Sussex team now has a UK PR and briefs multiple news outlets as they choose.
The first “source” defending them against the Hollywood Reporter complaints appeared on GB News, complete with an insider description of the Archewell office and Meghan’s leaked email signature.
More than anything, Royal observers note, the Team Sussex response demonstrates all too clearly the battles they are choosing to fight.
Negative stories about Meghan’s time at the palace were chalked up or dismissed variously as being down to briefings by malevolent sources at the palace, an anti-Sussex press, racism or sexism. However, the Hollywood Reporter allegations risk the same “Duchess Difficult” narrative seeping into their new working lives.
Maer Roshan, the Hollywood Reporter’s co-editor-in-chief, said the outlet’s multiple sources include one “very high up” who still works for the couple.
“This notion, since coming to America, that a lot of these rumours were manufactured by the palace … the reporting that we did suggests that probably isn’t true and there is still this undercurrent of fear,” he says.
In the pages of US Weekly, an anonymous source says instead: “It’s clear where this type of commentary is coming from. It’s likely made up from someone who’s disgruntled.”
When Prince Harry was a schoolboy at Eton, it was reported he once plotted to set up his own newspaper full of his own Royal facts.
For now, it seems, the American celebrity magazines are doing the job just fine.