The call – late at night around two weeks ago – was electrifying. ‘This is wild,’ said the source. ‘Meghan and Harry are closing their Archewell charity and everyone is getting sacked!’

That wasn’t – quite – true.

But the Archewell Foundation, the non-profit arm of the Sussexes’ broader Archewell business, is indeed no more, and there are at least four departures from the organisation. This leaves just one employee at a new entity named Archewell Philanthropies.

The most high-profile departure is James Holt, who ran the charity alongside co-executive director Shauna Nep.

Today, this newspaper exclusively reveals that he has gone – he’s returning to the UK after running Archewell since 2021.

There is talk of visa problems for Holt, who was the last remaining staff member of the cohort who worked for Meghan and Harry when they were royal.

There is also talk of Harry and Meghan being disenchanted with the performance of the charity, with one Sussex source telling me: ‘They were upset with his work. They were ready to let him go.’

Rumours said ‘Meghan and Harry are closing their Archewell charity and everyone is getting sacked!’ That wasn’t – quite – true

Other sources deny both reasons for his departure, however, with one saying the couple have always been supportive of his residence status over the years.

Both sides also issued warm statements yesterday, with Holt gushing: ‘From the moment I met Meghan, I recognised a kindred spirit – someone who finds joy even in difficult moments and connects authentically with people regardless of circumstance.’

For their part, the Sussexes said: ‘James has been a stellar support for us for nearly ten years . . . As James moves his young family back to the UK, we are proud that he will continue to guide various humanitarian trips for us overseas through Archewell Philanthropies.’

Yet Holt’s departure from their side in the US is highly significant. He was the most loyal of lieutenants, moving to California to be first their PR chief, then to run Archewell. It was Holt who told the 2022 Netflix show Harry & Meghan that there had been a Palace conspiracy against them. Once people saw their popularity, he said, ‘the aim was to put them in a box or make them irrelevant’.

He also said Brexit had whipped up a racism which had then been unleashed on Meghan – a somewhat paranoid narrative which was enthusiastically endorsed by Prince Harry on the same show.

Whatever the exact reasons for Holt’s return to the UK, there is clearly trouble at Archewell, which can be politely described as going through a period of transition.

Last week this newspaper revealed that two other junior admin staff were being axed, as was Archewell’s director of programs and operations Kristen Slevin, on a $146,000 (£108,000) salary.

And with Holt gone, too, Shauna Nep is now the ‘last man standing’ at Archewell, now renamed Archewell Philanthropies. (Nep, incidentally, also works for charities run by music mogul Scooter Braun and make-up businesswoman Hailey Bieber, so it’s not even her only job.)