Podcast staff needed therapy after working with Meghan Markle, reports claim

Sources in a Vanity Fair profile on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex alleged they needed "long-term therapy" after working with Meghan Markle. Photo / Getty Images

Magazine Vanity Fair alleges workers took time off or sought counselling after being put under “very painful” strains.

Podcast staff needed “long-term therapy” or took extended breaks from work after working with the Duchess of Sussex, Vanity Fair has claimed.

The magazine recounts a source alleging the strain Meghan put on her colleagues when things went wrong was “really, really, really awful” and “very painful”.

“She’s constantly playing checkers – I’m not even going to say chess – but she’s just very aware of where everybody is on her board,” the source told the publication.

“And when you are not in, you are to be thrown to the wolves at any given moment.”

The allegations come in a lengthy profile of the Duke and Duchess marking the fifth anniversary of their departure from the UK.

Meghan Markle recording her Archetypes podcast, which was released in 2022. Photo / Spotify

The high-profile magazine said it spent months speaking to dozens of people who have lived and worked with the Sussexes to establish how their new life has panned out.

The resulting 8000-word cover feature paints a picture of a couple whose approach to their new careers in the world of show business has not always been well-received.

Prince Harry is portrayed as a naive, lonely figure who has failed to make any friends and is desperate to reconnect with his family.

One source suggested he did not necessarily realise the powerful impact his tell-all memoir Spare would have.

The Duke’s idea for a Spotify podcast is gently mocked.

Dubbed a “sociopath podcast”, he reportedly wanted to interview powerful men with complicated stories such as Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Mark Zuckerberg about how their experiences turned them into sociopaths.

The Duke is said to have said: “I have very bad childhood trauma. Obviously. My mother was essentially murdered. What is it about me that didn’t make me one of these bad guys?”

Meanwhile, the Duchess is portrayed as a ruthless boss who treats those who fail to impress her with contempt.

One person is quoted as saying that this manifested as “undermining”, adding: “It’s talking behind your back. It’s gnawing at your sense of self. Really, like, Mean Girls teenager.”

One source told the magazine: “You don’t tell the couple ‘no’,” adding: “I left because I couldn’t live with myself anymore.”

The allegations are reminiscent of previous bullying claims made against the Duchess which have always been hotly denied.

In 2018, Meghan was the subject of a palace bullying complaint amid concerns “the Duchess was able to bully two PAs out of the household”.

The findings of an official investigation into the way Buckingham Palace handled the allegations was kept secret.

On settling in the US in 2020, the Duke and Duchess signed lucrative deals with both Netflix and Spotify as they sought financial independence.

A still from the Sussexes’ Netflix documentary shows the couple with their son, Archie. Photo / Netflix

Vanity Fair quotes one person who was excited to begin working with the couple on media projects and did not believe reports that Meghan had bullied palace aides.

After working with her, this person realised, “Oh, any given Tuesday, this happened”, it is alleged.

“You can be yelled at even if somebody doesn’t raise their voice. [It’s] funny that people don’t differentiate between the energy of being yelled at and literally somebody screaming at you,” the source said.

Two sources claimed one colleague who had ties to Meghan’s Archetypes podcast – released in 2022 – took a leave of absence after working on just three episodes.

“Several others” are said to have described “taking extended breaks from work to escape scrutiny, exiting their job, or undergoing long-term therapy after working with Meghan”.

One is quoted as saying: “I think if Meghan acknowledged her own shortcomings or personal contributions to situations rather than staying trapped in a victim narrative, her perception might be better.”

Not for the first time, the Duke and Duchess are portrayed as a couple who did not fully understand the cut-throat world of show business and had few good ideas.

Among the podcast ideas pitched to Prince Harry were said to be one that involved him reviewing a hot chocolate every week while chatting with a different friend, and another that would see him “fix” something each week, from a flat tire to global warming.

One former Spotify employee is quoted as saying: “He wanted to do a podcast about disabled people who compete in the Invictus Games. But there’s no crossover between the audience who would listen to that and people who want to hear about Harry’s life.”

The Duke is described as someone who does not enjoy fame and would “happily work for charities for the rest of his life and would be very happy if Meghan made all the money and he didn’t need to”.

“I think Harry doesn’t know what he wants because he grew up in a fishbowl, and so he doesn’t know what real life really is,” one source told the magazine.

“I think he probably wants to be left alone and be able to go kiss babies every once in a while but not have to worry about money. I don’t think he wants to be famous the way Meghan wants to be famous.

“I can picture him meeting Meghan and just [taking] a deep breath of, like: ‘I’ve been so exhausted, and you make everything so easy...’ I don’t want to be like, ‘Oh, it’s an Oedipus thing’ or whatever, but it kind of feels like she’s re-parenting him in a way.”

The Duke and Duchess’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.