London: Of all the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s staff departures of recent years – and there have been a few – this one will hit the hardest. James Holt, the long-serving and deeply loyal PR turned executive director, is leaving their charity.
After eight years at their side – or “nearly 10”, in the words of the Sussexes – he will shortly leave his role as the co-head of the US-based Archewell and move to that favourite role of Team Sussex departees: a “senior adviser” from afar.
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, founded Archewell in 2020.Credit: AP
Working together had been “one of the great privileges” of his career, he said, during which he found a “kindred spirit” in the Duchess of Sussex and “immense pride and optimism” in their work.
The Sussexes, for their part, paid glowing tribute. They said Holt’s support had been “stellar” and his “enthusiasm and talent” were “extraordinary”.
Holt’s remaining colleagues speak highly of him and predict that he will not be able to stay away from the Sussex causes for too long.
He has promised to help out on “humanitarian trips” overseas next year and for Prince Harry’s future projects.
Harry with Archewell co-head James Holt at the Invictus Games in 2022.Credit: Getty Images
In the normal world, the departure of a senior member of staff after a relatively long tenure would not be headline news. Holt has good reason to seek a new challenge after working his way to the top of the Sussex employment ladder and staying there for some time.
But the Sussexes are not, and never have been, the normal world. His exit is the latest in a string of staff departures so long that there is no complete public record of them.
No one has yet coined a phrase for the exodus of Sussex staff (Sussexit?) but it has become a central, unfortunate part of Prince Harry and the duchess’s public image.
Some have disappeared quietly. Others have issued glowing statements about how wonderful their time with the Sussexes was and what a wrench it was to leave.
Meghan and Harry at an Archewell Foundation summit in 2023.Credit: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Project Healthy Minds
Ashley Hansen, their head of communications between 2022 and 2024, who left to set up her own PR firm and is now at an LA consultancy, revealed that Harry and Meghan’s “unwavering support and belief in my new firm has been meaningful and is a testament to their leadership”.
Mandana Dayani, their former chief operating officer, called them “kind, decent, caring people who I am very proud to call my friends”.
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Three days ago, Meredith Maines, the 11th PR person to leave in five years, said she would be “pursuing a new opportunity” after a year of “inspiring work”.
However, the anonymous briefings tell a different story: bullying allegations – filed back at the palace by a concerned press secretary who said the duchess “seems intent on always having someone in her sights” – have not gone away.
A Buckingham Palace report into the pair has still not been published, with no sign that it ever will be.
The nickname of “Duchess Difficult”, coined in Britain, has persisted in the US.
One American source, who initially told a magazine that they had not believed stories coming out of the palace, has confessed to a Damascene conversion of realising: “Oh, any given Tuesday, this happened.”
A report in the Hollywood Reporter offered a colourful and oft-quoted description of the duchess as a “dictator in high heels”, with the duke “very much an enabler”.
It was followed by a counter-article in celebrity tabloid magazine US Weekly, where a roll-call of staff lined up to speak of the “best bosses I’d ever had”.
Ben Browning, the former head of content on the TV side, said “we all continue to be friends”, while Catherine St-Laurent, the former chief of staff, said her time at Archewell was “incredibly meaningful to me”.
Josh Kettler, the most fleeting chief of staff, said he was “warmly welcomed” during his three-month stint.
The duke and duchess have always denied accusations of bullying.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry pictured in October at the baseball World Series in Los Angeles.Credit: AP
They are nonetheless plagued by staffing stories, which have become as much a part of their brand as edible flower petals and appearances on US chat shows.
One source familiar with Team Sussex said there is “an undeniable pattern”. While supporters can make the case that this is ordinary staff churn, the trend is “clearly about the work environment”, they added.
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Sussex sources speak of a “transition” for the bosses, as the Archewell Foundation becomes Archewell Philanthropies. The change will see it fall under a “fiscal sponsor” model, customarily used by small charities to allow an umbrella organisation to run the admin and distribute any funds.
One critic described the Sussexes’ ambitions to run a global foundation as “essentially shuttered”.
Several sources, who worked with the duke and duchess since the pair left the royal family, have described their work in America as akin to a small “start-up”.
“You build, you scale, you test things, you rebuild,” said one source. “You generate a level of success and then sometimes you review. Does the infrastructure still support what you want to achieve?”
The new set-up of Archewell Philanthropies will allow the duke and duchess to keep up their mantra of “show up, do good” with fewer administration costs, the source added.
So what now for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex?
The Sussexes at a welcome celebration during the 2025 Invictus Games in February.Credit: AP
There is another media court case for Prince Harry starting in January. It is a safe bet that he will be back in Britain for Invictus, which will hold a “one year to go” event before the 2027 games.
There will be overseas trips, very likely to Africa, where the duke maintains patronages including the Halo Trust and African Parks, and perhaps Ukraine again.
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There are no firm plans for a dramatic pivot to new charitable causes.
Both the duke and duchess want to work in the US as and when they feel that they are needed – as they did for the LA fire recovery, for example, or the Uvalde shootings – and with bereaved parents on social media harms.
Holt, in his leaving statement, praised the duchess’s ability to “find joy even in difficult moments”. There have been plenty of those.
As the new year begins, the perception of a “revolving door” of staff – as it is referred to in all media quarters now – must stop.
