Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Are 'Bosses From Hell'; 18 Staffers Have Left Since 2018: Royal Insider
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's struggles to retain employees allegedly stem from their treatment of their staff, royal insiders and pundits have claimed.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's issues were dragged into the spotlight once more recently after People and other news outlets reported that Prince Harry's chief of staff quit his role after just three months.
Josh Kettler, who was hired just days before the couple's trip to Nigeria in May, was reportedly brought in on a trial basis.
He and Prince Harry reportedly mutually agreed to part ways because it "wasn't the right fit."
However, Kettler's departure has further fueled the claims that Prince Harry and Markle are difficult to work with.
"At least 18 staffers have left since 2018," one unnamed source told In Touch Weekly. "People are saying they're the bosses from hell."
Earlier this month, the U.S. Sun reported that half of these 18 staffers quit working for them in the years after they moved from the U.K. to California in 2020.
Following Kettler's exit, British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard suggested to Fox News Digital that Prince Harry and Markle's "revolving door of staff" appears to signal that "something is wrong" within the Sussex camp.
She noted that even elites like Kettler -- who previously served as the head of strategic partnerships and chief of staff at the communication platform Cognixion -- are unable to last under Prince Harry and Markle.
"The sad thing is all these employees have been chosen carefully," Chard said. "They have previously excelled working for demanding bosses in high-performing companies and environments. I can only believe that Harry and Meghan are tricky customers and make it near impossible for their staff to excel in their roles."
Chard claimed that compared to the royal family, who "steer a tight ship," the Duke and Duchess of Sussex seem more like "rudderless ships."
"They lack direction, jump on board many different ideas, think they are an authority on all these ideas, and then move on to something new," she said.
Months before Kettler's departure, Archewell production manager Bennett Levine quit in January.
Archewell also lost Oscar-nominated producer Ben Browning and head of marketing Fara Taylor in January last year.
Mandana Dayani resigned as president of Archewell, and "Archetypes" podcast producer Rebecca Sananes left in late 2022.
Royal author Valentine Low previously claimed in his book "Courtiers" that some of Prince Harry and Markle's former palace aides called themselves the "Sussex Survivors Club" after they quit working for them, Page Six reported.
Low also alleged that Markle launched screaming tirades at staff and left people "broken" by their experience with her and her husband.
The couple's former private secretary Samantha Cohen -- who resigned in 2018 -- was allegedly among those who were subjected to verbal attacks, the book claimed.
Earlier this year, Cohen confirmed to the Australian Herald Sun that she was one of the staffers who were questioned during the investigation into the allegations that Markle "bullied" palace aides when she was a working royal.
While Cohen did not reveal any details about the investigation, she alluded to Prince Harry and Markle's struggle to hire and retain staffers.
"I was only supposed to stay for six months but stayed for 18 -- we couldn't find a replacement for me, and when we did, we took them on tour to Africa with Prince Harry and Meghan to show them the ropes, but they left as well while in Africa," Cohen told the outlet.
In 2021, reports surfaced that Markle was privately accused of bullying two aides out of Kensington Palace.
The former "Suits" star denied the allegations, calling them a "calculated smear campaign."
Buckingham Palace soon launched an investigation into the claims, but the results were not made public.
