Lucky subscribers to ‘As Ever’, Meghan Markle’s Pravda-esque newsletter, were given an exclusive insight this festive season into how the Duchess of Sussex would be spending the Christmas period. She wrote that ‘Last night, I was nibbling the remnants of our Christmas Eve feast (dim sum this year), wrapping a few last-minute gifts, and tiptoeing down the stairs with my husband to make sure “Santa” had enjoyed his cookies and “the reindeer” had eaten their carrots. Anything to maintain the morning magic of Christmas through our children’s eyes.’ She went on to offer further heartwarming domestic details, saying ‘I plan to spend today cuddled up with my family – maybe pyjamas all day, some Scrabble or Sequence (or Candyland for the kids), music playing, candles flickering, dogs snoring, endless grazing; the laughter, the sidebars, the deep breaths (you know the ones), the fun, and the memories.’
Perhaps in the future we could mark time not by months or weeks, but in periods of employment for the Duchess of Sussex – ‘that was three Meghan publicists ago’
All wholly commendable, if rather bland, stuff: the preserve of any well-to-do Montecito family. Yet curiously absent from this litany of heartwarming activities was any mention of the structural chaos that appears to have engulfed Brand Sussex over recent weeks. It has been revealed that not only has the eleventh – eleventh! – publicist who works for Megs ‘n’ Hal departed, but James Holt, executive director of the Archewell Foundation that the couple established, has decided that a better future awaits him outside the auspices of California after five years working for the newly renamed Archewell Philanthropies.
Publicly, at least, Holt is leaving on good terms with the Sussexes. A statement suggested that he was returning to London to spend time with his family, and giving up a well-renumerated post in order to do so. He called Meghan ‘a kindred spirit — someone who finds joy even in difficult moments and connects authentically with people regardless of circumstance’ and said, ‘When I pass the baton to the team leading Archewell Philanthropies in the coming months, I’ll do so with immense pride and optimism for what lies ahead.’
High-powered chief executives often leave jobs, especially if they require them to work on another continent, and no doubt Holt will find another well-paid role in Britain without any difficulty. Yet the curious case of the departing publicist Meredith Maines is more interesting. It has been suggested that the reason she quit the role – which she took up at the beginning of 2025 – was that she was embarrassed by Harry and Meghan being photographed at a party for Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner’s 70th birthday. As one insider told the American gossip website Page Six at the time, ‘It truly shows that Harry is so far removed from the rest of the family. These people may be stars in America, but the pure ostentatiousness is at odds with what Prince William is trying to do with his life and the monarchy.’
It was suggested that there was pressure put on the Kardashians to delete pictures taken of the Sussexes at the party from their social media, but to little avail: the embarrassing and incriminating evidence of their presence is still freely available online. The suspicion lingers, not for the first time, that acting as a publicist for the Sussexes in general and Meghan in particular is a near-impossible job. She might present herself as a warm and cosy California earth mother type, forever thinking of new and innovative ways to make her family (and her dwindling array of As Ever subscribers and Netflix viewers) happy, but it may be that working for her is deeply at odds with this carefully constructed fantasy.
Perhaps in the future we could mark time not by months or weeks, but in periods of employment for the Duchess of Sussex – ‘that was three Meghan publicists ago’ or ‘can we meet for dinner in two Meghan publicists’ time?’ As 2026 approaches, with the promise of future legal shenanigans and no doubt some commercial innovation for As Ever, public relations professionals will be scanning their LinkedIn inboxes with unusual trepidation. Should an elegantly written invitation from ‘Meghan, Duchess of Sussex’ appear in their mail, the best advice I can give them would be to delete it, unread, and move swiftly on with their lives. Everyone else has, after all.
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