The Real Reason Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Can’t Shake the Archewell Staff Issue
Archewell was meant to be the engine of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s post-royal life, assumed to be a fresh start and focused on impact rather than internal dynamics. Instead, repeated staff departures have shifted attention away from mission statements and onto the people who keep leaving.
Hannah Furness reports in The Telegraph that the movement of staff in and out of Archewell has become a storyline of its own—one that the Duke and Duchess appear increasingly keen to neutralize. While the Duke and Duchess of Sussex continue to present their organisation as evolving and purposeful, Furness’s analysis suggests something more defensive is at play. “Of all the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s staff departures of recent years – and there have been a few – this one will hit the hardest,” she notes, referring to James Holt.
After eight years at Harry and Markle’s side, “nearly 10”, as the Sussexes themselves put it, Holt is leaving both his role and the country. In a familiar pattern, he will reappear as a “senior adviser” from afar, a designation that has become something of a landing zone for departing Team Sussex insiders. Reflecting on his tenure, Holt described working with the couple as “one of the great privileges” of his career, saying he found a “kindred spirit” in the Duchess of Sussex and took “immense pride and optimism” from their shared work.
The Sussexes responded in kind. In their tribute, they praised Holt’s support as “stellar” and described his “enthusiasm and talent” as “extraordinary.” Furness reports that Holt’s remaining colleagues speak highly of him and predict he will not fully detach. He has already committed to helping with overseas “humanitarian trips” next year and supporting Prince Harry’s future projects.
Holt’s exit feeds into a longer, harder-to-ignore pattern. There is no complete public record of how many staff have passed through Archewell, but the list is long enough to have become a defining feature of Harry and Markle’s public image. Some former employees have slipped away quietly; others have left with conspicuously glowing endorsements. Just days ago, Meredith Maines, reported to be the 11th PR professional to leave in five years, announced she would be “pursuing a new opportunity” after a year of “inspiring work.”
Yet, as Furness makes it clear, a parallel narrative refuses to disappear. Anonymous briefings have continued to revive bullying allegations first raised during Markle’s time at Kensington Palace, when a press secretary claimed the Duchess “seems intent on always having someone in her sights.” A Buckingham Palace investigation into those claims was completed but never published, “with no sign that it ever will be.”
The label 'Duchess Difficult,' first coined in Britain, has followed Markle across the Atlantic. One American source, who initially dismissed palace-era reporting, later admitted a change of heart: “Oh, any given Tuesday, this happened.” Furness also cites The Hollywood Reporter, which memorably described the Duchess as a 'dictator in high heels,' with Harry 'very much an enabler.' That portrayal was countered in US Weekly, where former staff praised Harry and Markle as the “best bosses I’d ever had.” Ben Browning, formerly head of content, said “we all continue to be friends,” while ex-chief of staff Catherine St-Laurent described her time at Archewell as “incredibly meaningful to me.” Josh Kettler, whose tenure lasted just three months, said he had been “warmly welcomed.”