An 8000-word Vanity Fair cover feature published over the weekend included a series of bombshell claims against the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Photo / Getty Images
An 8000-word Vanity Fair cover feature published over the weekend included a series of bombshell claims against the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Photo / Getty Images
Prince Harry and Meghan’s rocky start to 2025 has become a full-blown PR crisis in the wake of a damning new exposé, with sources close to the pair describing the latest claims as “distressing”.
With Meghan on the cusp of finally launching her major new post-royal rebrand as a homewares and lifestyle guru, the timing couldn’t be worse - and according to the UK’s Times, sources close to the couple have admitted the latest brutal claims are “distressing”, though they added that they have “dismissed” them.
Worse still is the fact the article was published by Vanity Fair, who has typically been supportive of the Sussexes in the past, and even featured Meghan on its cover in 2017 in a flattering profile piece, titled: “Wild About Harry”.
Clearly, the tides have now turned. In the latest article, the Duchess, 43, is portrayed as a ruthless employer, with one staffer revealing they had not believed previous bullying claims about her but quickly changed her mind after being hired, admitting it could happen “any given Tuesday”.
Meghan Markle is the subject of a brutal new Vanity Fair exposé. Photo / Getty Images
“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 former employee said.
Another ex-staffer compared Meghan to a “Mean Girls teenager”, and described working on her Archetypes podcast as “really, really awful” and “very painful”.
“Because she’s constantly playing checkers, I’m not even going to say chess, she’s just very aware of where everybody is on her board,” the source alleged.
“And when you are not in, you are to be thrown to the wolves at any given moment.”
Others described “taking extended breaks” to “escape scrutiny” or “undergoing long-term therapy” after working with the Duchess.
But it wasn’t just the fresh allegations of bullying that caused jaws to drop.
The article also shared the shocking claim that a member of Meghan’s team had floated to publishers the idea of a book about divorce, if she and Harry were to break up.
The article states that it was made clear that the couple was not splitting up, but it was a question of, “would this publisher theoretically be interested in a book that took place in its aftermath?”
Meghan Markle in a the trailer for her new Netflix show With Love, Meghan. Photo / Netflix
The Vanity Fair journalist goes on to stress that “no offer was ever made, and no manuscript was produced”.
A longtime friend of Harry’s, who is based in the UK, has since revealed to the Daily Beast that the divorce allegations, in particular, have made “a bad time worse” for the couple.
“Things aren’t easy for them right now. Vanity Fair have succeeded in making a bad time worse,” the confidante said.
Meanwhile, this is far from the first time that Meghan has been accused of bullying staff. Similar allegations were first made during her time at Buckingham Palace, although the results of an internal investigation were never made public.
However, since then, Meghan was again accused of bullying behaviour - this time, involving US-based staff - in a scathing piece by The Hollywood Reporter last September, which saw her described as a “dictator in high heels”.
It was followed up shortly afterwards by further accusations of terrible behaviour in the Daily Beast, with one former staffer alleging that she was a “demon” when things aren’t going her way.
As the THR allegations made global news, a handful of Meghan’s current and former employees spoke to US Weekly on the record to refute the notion of her being an unreasonable boss.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend the 2024 ESPY Awards in Hollywood last July. Photo / Getty Images
In the rebuttal article, Harry and Meghan’s former PR boss, Ashley Hansen, described how the couple treated her with “the kind of concern and care a parent would express if it were their own child” when she took time off for surgery.
Former Sussex chief of staff Catherine St-Laurent also told Us Weekly that she and the couple have “remained close”, adding “the time I spent working with Prince Harry and Meghan was incredibly meaningful to me”.
One of the former employees who had spoken anonymously to the Daily Beast described how the defensive article only confirmed their negative opinion of Meghan.
“I always thought she was a classic narcissist and getting her staff to tell a magazine how amazing she is only confirms that in my mind. She is lovely when it is all going her way but a demon when the worm turns.”
Harry and Meghan have yet to comment publicly on the latest allegations.
