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While Meghan Markle and Prince Harry might’ve been charming the world during their recent tours to Nigeria and Colombia, there appear to be signs for concern in their home base of Montecito. As reported in August, the couple’s former chief of staff abruptly quit after only three months in the position as the Santa Barbara-based strategist reportedly found “aspects of [the job] that he wasn’t comfortable with”.
The departure was the latest in a long line of resignations with ex-staff members allegedly referring to themselves as the ‘Sussex Survivors Club’. Now, a source close to the royal pair has opened up to The Hollywood Reporter in an attempt to explain the reason for the high turnover of employees. “Everyone’s terrified of Meghan,” the anonymous insider claimed.
They continue to allege that the Suits alumni “belittles people” and “doesn’t take advice” before adding that both she and Prince Harry are “poor decision-makers who change their minds frequently”. As for the soon-to-be 40-year-old, the source had a kinder reading of the Spare author’s management style. “Harry is a very, very charming person—no airs at all—but he’s very much an enabler. She’s just terrible.”
As per the publication, a spokesperson for the Sussex’s declined to comment on the report. Nevertheless, the accusations paint a very different picture to the public persona they’ve positioned for themselves—especially as this isn’t the first time Markle is said to have demonstrated poor treatment towards her workforce.
In 2018, Markle was the focus of an internal investigation from Buckingham Palace after royal aides cited they were subject to “bullying behaviour” and “occasionally reduced to tears” at the hands of the then-princess. Though the findings were never released, critics of the pair have latched onto this and the frequent dismissals as a repeated pattern of ill conduct towards their staff.
As per THR, members working with the couple in the US report have given her the nickname ‘Duchess Difficult’ after a reported penchant for “noisy tantrums and angry 5am emails”. Another source shared that Markle is “absolutely relentless”.
“She marches around like a dictator in high heels, fuming and barking orders. I’ve watched her reduce grown men to tears,” they said. Markle has vehemently declined all claims, calling the allegations a “calculated smear campaign” when they first came to light in 2021.
