Meghan Markle’s former colleague claims the Duchess of Sussex would be cold and withholding to a staffer at the drop of a dime if “something went poorly,” according to a new report.
It was “really, really, really awful. Very painful,” the unnamed staffer, who worked with Markle on media projects, claimed to Vanity Fair for an exposé published Friday.
“Because she’s constantly playing checkers — I’m not even going to say chess — but she’s just very aware of where everybody is on her board. And when you are not in, you are to be thrown to the wolves at any given moment.”
The worker recognized that the “Suits” alum would be warm and effusive at the start of a person’s employment, but would allegedly turn if her or her husband Prince Harry’s demands were not met.
The staffer noted that one of those instances was when a teaser for Markle’s now-defunct podcast, “Archetypes,” was released in March 2022 five months before the actual show would premiere and there weren’t any clips to promote. The Spotify deal was ultimately dissolved by June 2023.
The media projects staffers added that Markle could be “undermining” to her colleagues.
“It’s talking behind your back. It’s gnawing at your sense of self. Really, like, ‘Mean Girls’ teenager,” the source claimed.
However, producer Jane Marie, who collaborated the Sussexes on audio projects at Archewell, rebutted that Markle was “just a lovely, genuine person.”
Reps for Markle did not immediately return Page Six’s request for comment.
This is not the first time that Markle’s ex-staff has shared conflicting experiences with the press.
Markle, 43, has been accused of bullying palace staffers and, in September was slammed as a “dictator in high heels” who has reduced “grown men to tears” in another bombshell exposé.
“She belittles people, she doesn’t take advice,” a source told the Hollywood Reporter at the time, also adding of Harry, 40, “They’re both poor decision-makers, they change their minds frequently.
“Harry is a very, very charming person — no airs at all — but he’s very much an enabler. And she’s just terrible.”
Later that month, the Daily Beast spoke to ex-staffers who had both negative and positive experiences working for the Sussexes.
“If you were working for her, you were often treated like a tradesman who could be treated like s–t,” a source claimed.
“I always thought she was a classic narcissist and getting her staff to tell a magazine how amazing she is only confirms that in my mind,” a second insider agreed. “She is lovely when it is all going her way but a demon when the worm turns.”
However, a third recognized that perhaps Markle and Harry’s controversial exit from the royal family has played a role in how they are perceived among the public and those who work for them.
“There have been plenty of difficult royals over the years, and I do think that after the ill-feeling of Megxit, Meghan’s bad moments were amplified and distorted and blown out of proportion,” an aide claimed.
In October 2022, Markle admitted she could be “particular” but bashed the “angry black woman myth.”
She said on “Archetypes” at the time, “You’re allowed to set a boundary. You’re allowed to be clear. It does not make you demanding. It does not make you difficult. It makes you clear.’”
Harry, for his part, wrote in his memoir, “Spare,” that Markle was an exemplary boss who “checked on staff who were ill, sent baskets of food or flowers or goodies to anyone struggling, depressed, off sick.”
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