Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have had quite a year — even before announcing their return to London. Their documentary Cookie Queens was a box office flop, and there’s been lots of speculation about the Sussexes’ business relationship with Netflix since her show With Love, Meghan was canceled and the streamer dropped her jam brand. Now there’s a new rumor going around that doesn’t paint a pretty picture of what it’s like to work for Harry and Meghan.
While Archewell, the group that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry formed in 2020 to manage both their philanthropic works and for-profit ventures, has refused to speculate on “unfounded” claims about the couple (an interesting response in itself), there’s supposedly a lot being said by former Archewell employees behind the scenes. According to a “knowledgeable source” for Page Six, several former members of Archewell’s production staff are part of a text chain, where they keep in touch and bond over being part of what the insider called the “Sussex Survivor’s Club.”
That’s pretty brutal, if true! It's possible the group chat's got quite a few members, too, because there has been a wild amount of turnover on Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s staff. That's not even to mention the alleged layoffs of their entire communication team in 2025, which was a reported cost-cutting measure. In fact, in the six years since they started Archewell, more than two dozen employees have reportedly left or been let go, including at least 10 publicists.
Some sources have spoken out about how the Sussexes prefer to be referred to by their staff, while author Valentine Low has written articles and a book regarding the alleged bullying of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s staff. Low said the former employees he spoke to were still in a “very fragile state” more than two years later, citing Markle’s alleged “infinite” capacity for “revenge” as one of their reasons for being nervous to speak out.
The duchess’ team firmly rejected the bullying accusations.
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Now, with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex having returned to the UK, there are a lot of questions regarding what that means for Prince Harry’s estrangement from his father and brother, if Meghan Markle will return to acting and if they will still attempt to be “half-in, half-out” when it comes to balancing Hollywood and the royal family.
One royal commentator gave an interesting perspective on why more of their business ventures haven’t worked out, saying Harry and Meghan’s “curiosity” factor is gone — people may still want to consume content about the Sussexes but they may not be as interested in content that comes from the couple.
That sounds like an issue the Archewell employees might have to tackle, and I think I’ve heard of an alleged “Survivors” chat whose presumed members would probably have strong opinions on the topic.
