Harry and Meghan fight back

Team Sussex takes on the bad press

It’s been quite the week for Harry and Meghan, as Team Sussex takes on recent negative stories. Five current and former staff members have spoken to US Weekly, to dispel persistent rumours Meghan is a bad boss. Kerry wrote about it for The Sunday Telegraph, this week. Here are some of her thoughts.

Is Meghan someone who “gives clear direction and is solution-oriented”, as Team Sussex told US Weekly, or, “a dictator who terrifies employees” and has “reduced grown men to tears”, as The Hollywood Reporter claimed?

Stories have been swirling about Meghan being a demanding boss for years, after it was reported Palace insiders dubbed her “Duchess Difficult”. Then in 2021, Buckingham Palace launched an investigation into bullying, after allegations Meghan had driven out two personal assistants through her behaviour. The subsequent findings were not made public. Harry and Meghan, meanwhile, countered it was she who was bullied, with the prince calling the rumours, “a work of fiction” in his autobiography, Spare.

However, The Hollywood Reporter recently ran an excoriating news piece titled, Why Hollywood Keeps Quitting on Harry and Meghan. One source told the publication, “Everyone’s terrified of Meghan,” as she “belittles people, doesn’t take advice” and is described as marching around, “like a dictator in high heels, fuming and barking orders”. A staff member said, “I’ve watched her reduce grown men to tears.”

Then this week, US Weekly, ran a cover story, The Truth about Meghan: Her staff break their silence. Former and current staff members said the pair were lovely to work for, saying, they “watered the seeds” for their staff “to flourish” and regularly gifted them “top-notch” hand-me-down baby items and baskets of “fresh flowers, fresh fruit, fresh eggs.” As for the infamous five am emails, they revealed her email signature reads, “My working day may not be your working day. Please do not feel obliged to reply to this email outside your normal working hours.” May we suggest she uses the “schedule email” tool, instead?

Whatever the truth, a global crisis PR expert told us she would advise the pair didn’t try to counter rumours. “Tit for tat tactics won’t work in the situation they find themselves in,” says Kerry Parkin, CEO of Sway communications agency. “One story will not turn the tide on the negative press. They lack a cohesive strategy and approach to managing their reputation.”

Meanwhile, Harry has been having more nightmares - appearing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in a haunted maze, plus undertaking solo engagements in New York, including speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. He’ll be in the UK tomorrow, September 30, for the WellChild Awards ceremony in London.

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William has the same outlook as the Queen, says biographer

While Harry continues to battle the press, Prince William continues his steady path, says one biographer, crediting his calm approach to having the same outlook as his grandmother, the late Queen. Speaking to The Royal List at a press briefing, this week, Craig Brown said William, “seems a modest kind of character” and appears to be steering the crown “more towards a Scandinavian or Dutch monarchy.

“Like the Queen, he doesn’t confuse public adoration with adoration of his own character, whereas someone like Andrew… inhaled the worship,” says Brown, author of new biography A Voyage Around the Queen. “He seems like someone who has been able to divide what he is as a symbol and what he is as a person and realise that they are quite separate things.”

Meanwhile, Prince William and his ever-increasing beard, introduced the finalists for The Earthshot Prize 2024, this week. The winner will be announced in Cape Town in November. Or judging by his royal hirsuteness, more accurately, Movember.

Kate loved this production of the English National Ballet in Akram Khan's Giselle Pic: Laurent Liotardo

Kate’s secret trip to the ballet

Just like another much-loved Princess of Wales, Catherine’s late mother-in-law, Diana, it’s no secret that the current Princess of Wales is a huge fan of the ballet. So, it was great to hear Catherine was feeling well enough to make a private trip to see Giselle this week.

On Thursday she saw the English National Ballet’s matinee production at London’s Sadler’s Wells, and was so impressed she posted on X, saying: “Congratulations and thank you to the English National Ballet and Sadler’s Wells for the wonderfully powerful, moving an inspiring performance of Akram Khan’s Giselle. Creativity at its best! C.”

Also revealed this week, Catherine hosted a planning meeting regarding her annual Christmas carol concert at Westminster Abbey. This has become a regular and highly anticipated fixture on the royal calendar and attended by many members of the Royal Family.  We can’t wait to see the princess back in action.

Charles meets acting royalty. Pic Royal Family X

Charles’ tribute to a ‘national treasure’

King Charles and Queen Camilla remembered a queen of stage and screen this week, as they paid tribute to Dame Maggie Smith, who died aged 89 on Friday.

In a touching statement posted on The Royal Family’s X account, the Charles said: “My wife and I were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Dame Maggie Smith. As the curtain comes down on a national treasure, we join all those around the world in remembering with the fondest admiration and affection her many great performances and her warmth and wit that shone through both on and off the stage.”

We second that, in fact The Royal List’s Maria was lucky to have seen Dame Maggie twice on stage, in 1993 and her final stage performance in 2019, she was truly magnificent and mesmerising. Farewell Maggie and thank you!

Don’t miss our podcast – Secrets of The Royals

Coming soon! If you enjoy our newsletter, do tune in to our new podcast, Secrets of The Royals, which launches very soon. In our first six-part series, we – Kerry and Maria – chat through some of the biggest tragedies to befall the Royal Family, including many forgotten secrets and scandals. It will launch as a podcast here on Substack and other platforms, as well as a video on YouTube. Watch this space!