Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s chief of staff leaves after just one year

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have lost their chief of staff after less than a year, as the pair face a new court battle.

Meghan Markle has had another staff member leave, according to reports. Picture: CBS

Meghan and Prince Harry have lost their chief of staff after less than a year and are facing a new court battle with the British Press.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have shuffled the deckchairs at their Archewell Foundation, following the departure of Catherine St-Laurent.

The Canadian, who had worked for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has moved on to her own charity after 11 months working for the couple.

Ms St-Laurent, their personal chief of staff and executive director of their charity, was described as an “incredible asset” when she was appointed in April 2020.

James Holt, the couple’s UK media spokesman, was promoted to the top job.

Ms St-Laurent is the latest staffer to work only a short time with the couple.

A Buckingham Palace investigation has been launched into claims made in 2018 that Meghan, 39, bullied two personal assistants out of their jobs.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (L) and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Meghan's chief of staff has left after a year on the job. Picture: Tolga Akmen / AFP)

Australian Samantha Cohen, who also worked for the couple, was put under pressure while Meghan was a senior royal, according to leaked emails.

Ms St-Laurent’s exit was described as “surprising” but she will stay on as a senior adviser.

“They do not have a big team out in LA, so this is going to be a blow,” a source told the UK Telegraph.

It comes as a British court has allowed the Daily Mail more time to mount an appeal against a claim it breached Meghan’s copyright by publishing a heartfelt letter she wrote to her father Thomas, 76.

The company’s Sunday edition, the Mail on Sunday, was ordered to publish an apology on page 3.

Lord Justice Warby ruled that the newspaper had until April 6 for the Court of Appeal to deal with their new claim, otherwise they would have to publish the grovelling mea culpa.

In February, Justice Warby had ruled that the letter, which formed the basis of a stinging front page story, was “in short, a personal and private letter.”

However, while that battle continues, the couple’s campaign against racism has been making some inroads.

Catherine St-Laurent was hired by the Sussexes last year. Picture: Supplied/Linkedin

The revelation in their interview with Oprah Winfrey of claims that a senior royal asked “how dark” their mixed raced baby would be has prompted renewed focus on racism in the Firm.

A royal source told News Corp Australia that Buckingham Palace was considering hiring a diversity manager.

“Diversity is an issue which has been taken very seriously across the Royal Households,” the source said.

“We have the policies, the procedures and programmes in place but we haven’t seen the progress we would like in terms of representation and more needs to be done, we can always improve.

“The work to do this has been underway for some time now and comes with the full support of the family.”

The Royal Family was actively considering “the idea of someone to spearhead this work.”

Prince Harry, 36, and Meghan also announced they hired Oscar nominated producer Ben Browning to work on the Netflix and Spotify content.

Mr Browning will be instrumental in producing the documentaries and podcasts, for which the couple are being paid a combined $150 million in separate deals.

They will also join forces with Invisible Hand – a social impact and culture change agency founded by Genevieve Roth.

Toya Holness, global press secretary for Archewell, said: “Archewell is incredibly pleased to welcome Ben, Genevieve and the Invisible Hand team to the organisation.

“Along with the appointment of James Holt as executive director of Archewell Foundation, they join a rapidly expanding team that’s deeply dedicated to advancing systemic cultural change and supporting compassionate communities across the world.”

[e-mail]

Originally published as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s chief of staff leaves after just one year