They’ve long promulgated themselves as crusaders for justice, equality and social welfare – while railing against their poor treatment at the brutal hands of the royal family. But Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are no doubt eating a large slice of humble pie these days, after fielding yet another round of complaints and accusations that, rather than representing the underdog, they might just be the big bully in disguise. And nothing feeds this narrative more than the fact that – according to whispers and the very visible revolving door of staff they have entering and leaving their employ – hardly anybody can bear working for them.
Earlier this month, the spotlight fell once again on Harry and Meghan’s seemingly dodgy leadership skills after yet another high-ranking professional who worked for them quit unexpectedly. Josh Kettler, a highly respected PR expert, had joined the couple in May as their chief-of-staff, and quickly dedicated himself to the mission to "guide" Harry "through his next phase". He was a valued addition to their team, and was visibly by their sides throughout his three-month tenure, joining them on their trip to Nigeria in May and Harry’s fleeting trip to London. But no sooner had he arrived than he left again, with the news dropping just hours before he was due to accompany the former royals on their very visible "quasi royal tour" to Colombia.
Those in the Sussex camp tried to do damage control, claiming Josh had only been there "on a trial basis" and that his abrupt departure was a "mutual" decision. But his very visible exit from the Sussex machine is nothing out of the ordinary: in fact, he’s now the 18th member of staff they’ve lost since marrying in 2018, and the ninth since they moved to Montecito in 2020. Now, we’re told, Harry and Meghan are reeling from the news of Josh’s exit – and what it seems to suggest about the way they oversee their staff. Though they slapped on their bravest, most beaming faces in Colombia, our insiders say there’s panic beneath the surface, as they do all they can to prevent old rumours and new accusations coming to the fore that they’re the biggest bullies of the lot.
“Meghan is especially upset about this situation,” says an insider close to the parents-of-two, who – as part of their multi-strand Sussex brand – employ a roll-call of people to work for their charity, Archewell Foundation, and media company, Archewell Productions.
“It took a lot of the gloss off their trip to Colombia because she couldn’t stop thinking and fussing about it the whole time. Having any staffer leave is always a hassle, especially someone as senior as Josh, as he was in such a prominent position and was privy to the big picture of their business and all the plans they have for the future. There’s the headache of reassigning or dividing up his duties, and it’s by no means an easy transition to lose their top guy after holding out so much hope he’d be a long-term fixture. But what stings most is that, as a result, she and Harry are being branded as horrible bosses who can’t hold onto staffers.”
There’s no doubt about it: the optics don’t look good. After all, while the late Queen Elizabeth was known and admired for having a loyal and steadfast staff who stayed by her side through thick and thin, Harry and Meghan have a habit of losing their employees as quickly as they hire them. In 2018, shortly after they got married, Meghan’s personal assistant Melissa Toubati quit after just six months, with reports saying she been left “in tears” thanks to Meghan’s “unreasonable” demands, which apparently included installing air fresheners in St George’s Chapel before her wedding because it smelt “too musty”. Since then, the revolving door hasn’t stopped moving – with those who apparently stepped down while Harry and Meghan were still living in the UK nicknaming themselves members of the “Sussex Survivors Club”.
Since leaving royal life for California in 2020, Harry and Meghan have widened their commercial and philanthropic remit, but their ability to foster a happy work atmosphere has apparently come to naught, as both low-level and high-ranking staff have kept leaving – with one insider joking, “Perhaps there should be a Montecito arm of the Sussex Survivors’ Club”. It’s safe to say that anyone who does cut professional ties with the pair is likely to sign an NDA, preventing them from divulging secrets from the Sussexes’ inner circle; but, as more and more people jump ship, we’re told that Harry and Meghan are more fearful than ever about what could be said about the way they conduct their business and manage their team. Right now, it feels akin to a ticking time bomb.
“It’s something of a shock that a tell-all hasn’t emerged already,” says our source. “With all the money that could be made, it’s hard not to imagine that at some point an angry staffer will be willing to take their chances in court to get their story out and score a huge payday. And even if no one comes out and tells their story, it’s hard to deny that there’s something very off about how many people are leaving their employ. The optics are terrible, and not something that Harry and Meghan can ignore.”
Let’s not forget, what makes the high staff turnover even more difficult to overlook is the fact that Meghan has very plainly been accused of bullying in the past. In a damning Times exposé published in 2021, a 2018 email sent by Harry and Meghan’s former press secretary Jason Knauf to Prince William’s private secretary was leaked, in which he said he was “concerned that the Duchess was able to bully two PAs out of the household in the past year.”
At the time, the Sussexes slammed the claims as a “calculated smear campaign”, but that didn’t stop Buckingham Palace conducting a formal investigation. In 2022, it was confirmed that the investigation was over, and that no further action was to be taken, but the findings were never published, leaving many to believe that Meghan was simply being protected by the powers that be.
Since then, no one has actually come forward and explicitly accused Meghan and Harry of bullying in the workplace, but the fact remains that – bullies or not – people do not seem to like working for them. Now, as they open applications again for yet another round of recruitment, we’re sure they’re bracing themselves for the very real possibility that the growing “Sussex Survivors’ Club” might have something to say.