Why Meghan Markle Struggled at Kensington Palace, According to Royal Insiders
Sources say exhaustion, time-zone clashes, and late-night schedules shaped her early royal life.
Life inside Kensington Palace follows strict schedules and early starts. Royal insiders say adjusting to that routine was one of Meghan Markle’s earliest challenges and a reason she was often described as 'crotchety' during her time in Britain. And that rhythm may have been one of Markle’s earliest and most underestimated challenges.
The explanation, sources suggest, had less to do with temperament and exhaustion. Markle had spent most of her adult life in North America, growing up in Los Angeles and later living and working in Toronto. By the time she moved to the UK ahead of her wedding to Prince Harry in May 2018, her internal clock was still firmly set several hours behind Greenwich Mean Time.
According to Daily Mail columnist Ephraim Hardcastle, as reported by Scottish Daily Express, Markle found herself “operating in multiple time zones simultaneously” after settling into life at Kensington Palace. While adjusting to royal duties in London, she continued regular contact with her mother, Doria Ragland, in California, as well as close friends spread across the US and Canada. “When setting up her home at Kensington Palace, she kept up her relationship with mother Doria in California as well as friends in other parts of the US and Canada meaning she was often short on sleep and decidedly crotchety,” Hardcastle wrote.
“Skyping and calling both sides of the pond required the duchess to function on everything from GMT to Pacific Time. It meant she found it difficult even to have meals at the right times of day. And when she was wide awake, even at 4 am, she thought the staff should be too.” For palace staff accustomed to strict working hours and clear boundaries, that mismatch reportedly caused friction. Being alert and active in the early hours clashed with the long-established routines of royal households, where hierarchy and predictability are central to daily life.
Hardcastle also raised the question of whether those habits ever fully changed. He notes that the Sussexes’ well-documented difficulty retaining staff has caused “little surprise in the gilded corridors,” suggesting that unconventional working patterns may still be an issue.
The latest example came with the departure of Meredith Maines, the couple’s chief communications officer, who stepped down from her position last month. During her tenure, she oversaw “all external communications” for Harry and Meghan and helped coordinate a global PR structure, including agency staff “operating across five different time zones” to promote the couple’s business and philanthropic interests.
James Holt’s departure marked another telling moment in Markle’s revolving-door relationship with senior staff. Holt, who had served as executive director of the Archewell Foundation and was one of the Sussexes’ most trusted aides, stepped away after several years in the role, adding to a growing list of high-profile exits.
Maines has since been replaced by Liam Maguire, a former military colleague of Prince Harry, who is now reportedly the couple’s sole remaining publicist. However, one insider cautioned that “running a California-based operation from London brings huge challenges, including time zone issues and burnout risks.”
