Whatever she does, it looks like Meghan Markle just can’t seem to keep herself out of hot water.
Just weeks after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s new Chief of Staff, Josh Kettler, stepped down after less than three months in the gig, the royal has found herself being labelled as a “dictator in high heels”.
Highly respected US entertainment bible, The Hollywood Reporter, reported that the former Suits star “belittles people” and “doesn’t take advice.”
“Everyone is terrified of Meghan,” a source told the publication. “Harry is a very charming person – no airs at all – but he’s very much an enabler.”
Though this is hardly the first time rumours of their staffing issues have made headlines.
Here, WHO looks at the bullying allegations that have been made against Meghan.
What is the Sussex Survivors Club?
Since she joined The Firm, Prince Harry and Meghan have had at least 18 staff members quit their team.
Samantha Cohen resigned from her role as Prince Harry and Meghan’s private secretary in October 2019.
The palace veteran, who worked for the late Queen Elizabeth II for 17 years described the experience as being like “working with teenagers”.
The problem hasn’t gone away since they stepped down from royal duties, with just as many staff quitting in LA.
In 2022, the Sussex’s global press secretary, Toya Holness, resigned, and in 2023, Christine Weil Schirmer quit her role as head of PR.
Kettler’s departure added to the Sussex’s woes when he finished up in August, just days before the royals visited Colombia.
The Hollywood Reporter source further added that Kettler was the newest member of a group of disgruntled ex-employees who have called themselves the “Sussex Survivors Club”.
In his 2022 book, Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown, Valentine Low revealed that this was the nickname that a group of former staffers were calling themselves thanks to their difficult relationships with the duke and duchess.
He further revealed that a formal complaint had been lodged against Meghan by a palace staffer in 2018 and that aides nicknamed her “Duchess Difficult”.
“I am very concerned that the Duchess was able to bully two PAs out of the household in the last year,” read a memo from Kensington palace aide Jason Knauf seen by the Times of London.
A formal investigation was launched by the palace but the results have never been made public.
Has Meghan Markle responded to the bullying allegations?
In 2021, Meghan let her feeling be known about the bullying accusations that had been made against her after they become public knowledge just as her sit-down with Oprah Winfrey went to air.
“Let’s just call this what it is — a calculated smear campaign based on misleading and harmful misinformation,” a spokesman for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex told the Times of London.
“It’s no coincidence that distorted several-year-old accusations aimed at undermining The Duchess are being briefed to the British media shortly before she and The Duke are due to speak openly and honestly about their experience of recent years.”
And certainly, not all of her staff seem to have a problem with Meghan, with some speaking out in support of her.
“Meghan would personally reach out to my husband daily to make sure that we both were OK and had support,” Ashley Hansen, head of communications for Archewell, told US Weekly in September to how the duchess reacted when she had time off following surgery. “It meant so much to him and even more to me.”
Former staffer Mandana Dayani, who served as the president of Archewell for 18 months in 2021 and 2022, also had only good things to say.
“Some of my favorite memories were during our weekly meetings in their Montecito home, where Meghan always served the most incredible lunches, snacks and her latest beautiful concoction,” she told the publication.
“These are kind, decent, caring people who I am very proud to call my friends.”
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