It appears Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have upset some Hollywood professionals again with the way they treat their staff.
Josh Kettler, now a consultant in Santa Barbara, served as chief of staff to the Duke and Duchess of Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍, Prince Harry and his wife, and resigned in August 2024 after three months on the job. Kettler became the latest member of the “Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍 Survivors Club,” as some former staffers have dubbed themselves.
Before Kettler, Toya Holness was in charge of Prince Harry and Meghan’s global press secretary until 2022, and Christine Weil Schirmer, the former communications director, left her job as Harry and Meghan’s head of public relations in 2021. Samantha Cohen, Meghan Markle ‘s top assistant and private secretary, also left in 2021.
Previously, Keleigh Thomas Morgan of Sunshine Sachs PR represented Meghan Markle when she was just an actress on the TV series Suits . Morgan added Harry to the list when the couple got engaged and helped them set up their media operations when they moved to California in 2020.
Sources said Morgan stopped representing Harry and Meghan around the end of 2020, because they stopped paying Sunshine Sachs for its services, although the public relations firm denied this.
The remaining members of the Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍 Survivors Club, including Catherine St-Laurent, who represents Prince Harry’s family charity Archewell; Archewell CEO Mandana Dayani; chief content officer Ben Browning (who brought the Harry & Meghan documentary to Netflix before moving to FilmNation) and chief marketing officer Fara Taylor, have also left.
Why did they all leave? What explains the change? “Everyone is scared of Meghan. She looks down on people, doesn’t listen to anyone’s advice. They’re both poor decision makers, they change their minds often. Harry is very charming, not at all flamboyant, but he’s very easy to let his wife do bad things,” a source close to the couple claimed.
In 2018, Markle’s treatment of two royal aides led to an investigation by Buckingham Palace for “bullying behaviour”. The results of the investigation were not made public, and Meghan Markle condemned it as a “calculated smear campaign”.
However, some of the couple’s US staff have expressed anger at Meghan Markle, who is said to be prone to tantrums, loud noises and sending emails at 5am, earning her the company nickname “The Difficult Duchess”.
“Meghan is absolutely tireless. She walks around the company like a dictator in high heels, angry and barking orders. I’ve seen her reduce grown men to tears,” a source recounted.
People’s portrait of Meghan Markle is in stark contrast to the kind, gentle image she paints of herself.