Meghan Markle has been dubbed ‘Duchess Difficult’ by her staff amid claims that she ‘terrifies’ and ‘belittles’ people, a damning report has revealed. According to the Hollywood Reporter, a source close to the couple has claimed that Meghan ‘belittles people, she doesn’t take advice’. They also described the couple as ‘both poor decision-makers’ who ‘change their minds frequently’ – with Harry dubbed ‘a very, very charming person’ and yet ‘very much an enabler’.
The new allegations form part of a study into an exodus of staff who had worked for the Sussexes, including the couple’s chief of staff Josh Kettler who resigned from his role in August after a three-month stint. Meghan’s ‘noisy tantrums’ and ‘angry 5 am emails’ have also earned her the nickname ‘Duchess Difficult’ by her members of staff, the Hollywood Reporter said.
Meghan had previously been accused of bullying palace staff before the pair’s move to California, prompting royal aides to launch an inquiry into claims of Meghan’s ‘belittling’ behaviour towards two personal assistants. Staff were said to have been left in tears and feeling ‘traumatised’ – with some likening their condition to having post-traumatic stress.
While details of the report were never revealed, the allegations have always been strongly denied by the duchess, whose lawyers described them at the time as a ‘calculated smear campaign’. The new reports come after it was revealed last week by The Mail on Sunday that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s PR adviser Christine Weir Schirmer had left quietly at the end of last year after joining the couple as head of communications for their charitable foundation Archewell in 2020.
News of Schirmer’s departure came just weeks after it was reported that Kettler had resigned after his short spell working for the couple. While Kettler had been hired on a trial basis when he took up the role with Harry and Meghan, US magazine People reported that the ‘decision to part ways was mutual, with both sides agreeing it wasn’t the right fit’. But the departures of Schirmer and Kettler have only highlighted the problems Meghan and Harry have long had when it comes to keeping their staff.
The couple have gained a reputation for losing employees, and are believed to have lost at least 18 members of their workforce since they married in 2018. Nine or more have left their roles since the couple escaped Britain for California in 2020, including their global press secretary Toya Holness and Meghan’s top aide and private secretary Samantha Cohen.
A spokesperson for the Sussexes declined to comment when approached by MailOnline. Meanwhile, Harry did issue a statement on Friday night telling of his excitement at turning 40, saying: ‘Bring on the new decade.’Â The Duke will mark the milestone on Sunday privately with Meghan and their children Archie, five and three-year-old Lilibet.
He is then thought to be planning a getaway for a weekend with his closest friends, Sky News reported. His message paid tribute to his two ‘incredibly kind and funny’ children, adding they had ‘sharpened his focus in all my work’. Harry told the BBC: ‘Whatever the age, my mission is to continue showing up and doing good in the world. Bring on the next decade.’
Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace are both yet to indicate whether they will do anything to mark Harry’s big birthday. Tensions within the royal family since Harry and Meghan left for a new life in the US in 2020 have only got worse over the following years, especially following the publication of Harry’s memoir Spare in January last year.
He claimed his brother William, the Prince of Wales, 42, had branded Meghan ‘difficult’, ‘rude’ and ‘abrasive’, and even accused the elder sibling of pushing him into a dog bowl. The latest clash came on Monday, when a Netflix teaser for a documentary called Polo – produced by the Sussexes’ production company – was released just hours after the Princess of Wales shared a video marking the end of her chemotherapy treatment.
