Royal expert explains why Sussex staff keep quitting

Losing four employees in two months doesn’t look great for Meghan Markle — but there’s more to this mass exodus than meets the eye.

With four staff resignations in less than one year, it’s pretty easy to speculate Meghan Markle must be some kind of horrible boss.

Whispers of the Duchess of Sussex’s “difficult” nature began circulating in November when her personal assistant Melissa Touabti was rumoured to have quit six months into the job.

Just weeks later, Prince Harry and Meghan’s shared private secretary and top aide, Samantha Cohen, reportedly resigned after 17 years working for the royal family.

(It’s worth noting her time with the newlyweds was only a temporary assignment.)

In January, Meghan’s bodyguard of six months jumped ship — making her the third close employee to leave the Duchess of Sussex’s employment in a little over two months.

Meghan’s female bodyguard Amy Pickerill (left) helps escort her quickly out of a Fijian marketplace after security concerns during last year’s royal tour. Picture: Nathan Edwards

The most recent departure was reportedly a serious blow to the former Suits star: Her right-hand woman Amy Pickerill — a near-permanent fixture by her side — is said to have handed in her notice last week and will finish up as secretary later this month.

Meghan is rarely seen without Amy. Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Certainly, the numbers don’t look great.

But working for the royal family isn’t the same as any other job — and that’s why we shouldn’t be so quick to assume the worst about Harry and Meghan.

According to Dickie Arbiter — who served as the Queen’s press secretary for 12 years and a media manager for Prince Charles and Princess Diana — the intensity of the work inside the royal bubble makes it easy to “burn out”.

“I was one of the Queen’s press secretaries with the remit. In addition to answering to her, 90 per cent of my time was (spent) looking after the Prince of Wales and Diana,” he explained to Global News.

“I’d (been on the) job with them for five years. Any longer and I would’ve been burnt out.”

It’s not easy being a royal - or working for one. Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Mr Arbiter added there was another good reason for why it appeared so many staff members were leaving at once.

“By outward appearances, it has been a bit of a ‘revolving door,’ (but) it just so happens with the Cambridge and Sussex households (that) employees started around the same time,” he said, suggesting that could explain the coincidental timing of the resignations.

Here’s an example: Harry’s private secretary Edward Lane Fox retired last April after five years as the Duke of Sussex’s right-hand man. Just months earlier, William’s private secretary, Miguel Head, quit after six years in his role.

And while much has been made of Meghan’s apparent inability to hold onto staff, her sister-in-law has also received a few resignation letters in her time.

William and Kate in Scotland in January. Picture: Jane Barlow - WPA Pool/Getty Images

In 2017, Kate’s private secretary, Rebecca Deacon, quit after a decade working with the royal family, and according to a 2016 documentary, two of Kate and William’s staff quit shortly after their wedding.

Royal expert Ashley Pearson claimed in William & Kate: The Journey the Cambridge’s head housekeeper and head gardener both left their positions when Kate joined the family, as they couldn’t handle how much she wanted to do for herself.

So there it is. Maybe Harry and Meghan are tough bosses — or maybe staff shake-ups in the royal household are actually pretty normal.