Meghan Markle is ‘in a bad place’ after damning Vanity Fair exposé

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are in shock after a Vanity Fair eposé painted a tragic picture of the couple’s life in the US that included scathing criticisms of Markle by former co-workers.

Meghan Markle is reportedly “in a bad place” following the release of a damning Vanity Fair exposé last week.

The scathing piece, published January 17, delves into the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s struggling business ventures, painting a tragic picture of their attempts at maintaining relevance after quitting royal life in 2020.

Numerous former colleagues and associates spoke to the publication for the article, many of whom have slammed the “Suits” alum’s character.

According to royal expert and commentator Kinsey Schofield, the Sussexes are licking their wounds after being left “bruised and upset” by the shocking claims.

“They are in a bad place right now,” Schofield told Sky News Australia. “It is my understanding that they are upset over it [and] I’m being told that things aren’t good for them right now.”

“Between Meghan’s show being postponed, which I’ve heard was Netflix’s idea, and just the idea that she has worked so hard to rebrand herself and here comes a very respected publication reiterating some of the nastiest claims about her.”

“So I think they are bruised and they’re sitting back trying to figure out how to process going forward,” Schofield added, though her claims have not been confirmed by the couple’s camp.

The Sussexes have been shocked by the damning Vanity Fair exposé published last week. Picture: Getty

The Post has reached out to Markle’s reps for comment.

Among the myriad of claims made in the exposé, one in particular suggested that the duo had been labelled local villains by neighbours.

One Montecito resident, who has never met the couple, referred to them as the prince and “the starlet.”

The neighbours of the quiet Santa Barbara area have blamed the couple for rising house prices and busy streets, saying Markle has tried taking the town’s understated elegance and marketing it via a mainstream label.

“It’s such a kind of hucksterism,” one resident told the outlet. “It’s just finding every way she can to monetise something.”

“I still think they’re the most entitled, disingenuous people on the planet. They moved away from England to get away from the scrutiny of the press, and all they do is try and get in the press in the United States.”

Neighbours of the couple – who live in the exclusive enclave of Montecito, in Santa Barbara, California – have reportedly labelled the couple ‘local villains’ by neighbours. Picture: Supplied

Another shocking claim suggested that Markle’s team floated the idea of a “post-Harry divorce book” to a publisher.

A source told the outlet, “Meghan’s team had a conversation with a publishing house to gauge interest” in a book that “might centre on a post-Harry divorce.”

The source didn’t divulge the date that Markle’s team proposed the idea, or the name of the publishing house to which it was purportedly floated.

The publication clarifies that “no written or formal proposal” for the book ever eventuated, while another insider disputes that the incident ever occurred at all.

Elsewhere, Markle was slammed for her alleged “bully” behaviour by several former colleagues, who have chosen to remain anonymous.

Some claimed they were “undergoing long-term therapy after working with Meghan,” while another described her as a “‘Mean Girls’ teenager.”

The Sussexes were in Los Angeles to offer support to victims of the wildfires earlier this month. Picture: CBS

One person who worked with the “Suits” alum, 43, on media projects told the publication that her time with the former actor was “really, really, really awful” and “very painful.”

“She’s constantly playing checkers — I’m not even going to say chess — but she’s just very aware of where everybody is on her board,” the source claimed.

“And when you are not in, you are to be thrown to the wolves at any given moment.”

The insider claimed that while the mom of two never raised her voice at employees, she was engaged in more tacit forms of bullying.

“It’s talking behind your back,” the person explained. “It’s gnawing at your sense of self.”

“You can be yelled at even if somebody doesn’t raise their voice. [It’s] funny that people don’t differentiate between the energy of being yelled at and literally somebody screaming at you,” they added.

Markle’s new Netflix series ‘With Love, Meghan’ has reportedly been delayed by the streaming service. Picture: Netflix

The latest news on the Sussexes comes after yet another revelation by a royal expert that Markle’s disgruntled Spotify employees had a secret nickname for the Duchess.

“Ex-staff members told me they decided to christen her ‘Eva’ and this was used as a warning signal to let people know that she was either arriving or on the warpath,” UK royal correspondent Neil Sean told Fox News Digital on Thursday.

Sean noted that the moniker for Markle wasn’t an engaging pet nickname.”

“The nickname came from the 1955 camp classic ‘Queen Bee’ starring the ultimate diva herself – Joan Crawford,” Sean explained. “This is because, like the Joan character [Eva Phillips], she stung her victims to pieces. This is exactly how staff felt about working alongside [Meghan].”

The Archetypes podcast aired 12 episodes.

Hollywood legend Joan Crawford.

Directed by Ranald MacDougall, “Queen Bee” stars Crawford as a ruthless woman who runs her Southern family and threatens and intimidates anyone around her.

Markle, 43, “had no idea about” the Crawford-inspired nickname, Sean said, according to his source.

Prince Harry, meanwhile, was known by the Spotify workers as “Tim Nice But Dim,” in reference to the upper-class twit from the British sketch show “Harry Enfield & Chums.”

[Like Meghan], he’s unaware of the moniker,” Sean said.

The Post has reached out to Harry and Markle’s rep for comment.

The Duchess of Sussex hosted a podcast called “Archetypes” for Spotify. Only a mere 12 episodes were produced during a two-and-a-half-year span, and the $20M deal between Spotify and Markle and Harry’s Archewell Audio came to an end in June 2023.

American poet, activist, and model Amanda Gorman (centre) was ‘thrilled’ to be interviewed for an episode of Archetypes. Picture: Instagram

In the Vanity Fair piece about the Sussexes’ personal and professional lives, one of Markle’s former Spotify employees called her a “‘Mean Girls’ teenager” while describing the “awful” and “painful” experience they had working with her.

The staffer said Markle began warm, complimentary and encouraging, but she’d “become cold and withholding toward the person she perceived to be responsible” if something didn’t go her way.

A Vanity Fair exposé has painted the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in an unfavourable light. Picture: Getty

Two further sources claimed that a “colleague with ties to ‘Archetypes’” quit working on the podcast after only three episodes. Others took “extended breaks from work to escape scrutiny,” per Vanity Fair.

But producer Jane Marie, who also worked with the couple on “Archewell,” called Markle “a lovely, genuine person.”

Sean addressed the Vanity Fair exposé about Markle and Harry to Fox News Digital, saying that “there are many things that were not covered” in the article.

“Behind the scenes, staff [found] Meghan really difficult to deal with, simply because of her mood swings and just how well certain aspects of her career [were] going,” he explained. “[They] thought she was quite tough and bossy, so decided to [give her] the nickname of that character. She was high camp without realising it.’”

Sean also claimed the former “Suits” actor only wanted “to speak to the person at the top” when she worked alongside them.

“This worked at the beginning as people were beguiled by Meghan’s presence,” he said, adding, “But it quickly wore off when she became demanding, clearly forgetting her struggling actor days.”

This article was originally published in The New York Post

Originally published as Meghan Markle is ‘in a bad place’ after damning Vanity Fair exposé