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(NewsNation) — Last week royal watchers were stunned when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s chief of Staff Josh Kettler, quit his high-profile gig as Harry and Meghan’s chief of staff after just three months on the job.
The departure marks the ninth employee of the couple to depart their company Archewell since they arrived in the United States (Since they’ve been together they have lost 18 staffers in total in the US and UK), marking an unusual “churn and burn” rate for what is supposed to be a family-friendly, charitable company.
Meghan Markle is ‘unbearable’ to staff: Former employee
So why such turnover? My source, who worked for the duo, said, “It’s Meghan. She’s unbearable. She talks down to people and is very condescending.”
For example, according to the Daily Beast, one photographer interviewed to shoot their wedding said: “It was incredibly exciting to be asked to present for the wedding. I had to go to Kensington Palace where I laid out several mood boards in what was then their office. Eventually, Meghan walked in, took one look at what I had prepared and said, in the meanest way possible, ‘No.’ Then she spun on her heel and walked out. I was left in tears. It was horrible.”
Another contractor, a florist, told The Daily Beast they were “monstered” by Meghan after posting an innocuous message on social media trying to source flowers for a bouquet Meghan had requested they make. The florist vowed never to work with Meghan again despite the prestige associated with such a client.
“It’s like she’s pretending she’s of the manor born,” my source added, “but people who really are of the manor, don’t treat people who work for them like that.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s trip to Colombia
Meanwhile, the duo is embarking on yet another “quasi-royal” tour of their own design to Colombia, which, up until a few years ago was seen as “safe” but is now wracked with drug violence and kidnappings.
This is despite the fact the couple says they can’t ever visit the UK or Harry’s family because it’s not “safe” ever since they were denied police protection (They allegedly employ a barrage of private security). And it was this security (and the Nigerian army) that kept them safe during their ill-advised trip to Nigeria earlier this year. The jaunt was rocked by scandal.
One of the dignitaries greeting them in Nigeria was Dr. Allen Onyema, who is the subject of a US federal indictment filed back in November 2019. He was charged in a $20 million bank fraud and money laundering case, according to the US Department of Justice. Onyema also flew the couple around the country during their trip.
In the couple’s defense, a “friend” told The Daily Beast: “The couple’s travel within Nigeria was organized by the Nigerian Chief of Defense Staff.” The source also pointed out that Air Peace is the largest airline in Nigeria and West Africa, and has daily flights from Lagos to Britain’s London Gatwick airport.
The couple also met with regional king, Oba Abdulrasheed Adewale Akanbi, who has been jailed and deported twice from the U.S. and convicted of fraud.
After the trip, Markle was allegedly shaded by Nigeria’s first lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, who said: “Nigerian women and girls ‘do not want to mimic and try to emulate film stars from America’ with their ‘nakedness’… ‘The message here is we have to salvage our children. We see the way they dress’,” she said.
During her trip to Nigeria, Markle wore several sexy backless dresses with plunging necklines. Tinubu’s office later said she never referenced “Meghan’s dressing.”
As for their trip to Colombia, according to the AP, they were invited by the country’s Vice President Francia Márquez, to take part in several events, including a forum against cyberbullying. The two are set to visit a school in Bogotá where they will “interact directly with students who are exploring the digital landscape and its effects on society,” the statement from the vice president added.
They will also attend a forum on how to promote safe digital environments organized by Colombia’s vice presidency in partnership with Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Foundation.
But Tracy Walder, NewsNation’s national security contributor told me: “This (trip) is laughable to me. Our state department’s warning for Colombia is ‘to reconsider travel due to crime, terrorism and kidnapping’. It is important to note that Nigeria, where they recently went, also has the same warning. That isn’t the highest warning but it is high. If they are genuinely concerned with security, this would not be a secure place for them. Certainly, Colombia will provide them with security, I would assume for free, but it is still a risky place to travel.”
Meanwhile, travel industry insiders are also agog at the trip.
A travel industry PR person sniffed: “This (trip to Colombia) is basically a free press trip. They won’t pay for anything and will be treated like royals (which they once were). Trips like these are for social media influencers and media… maybe that’s what they are now (influencers).”
Another travel PR person said, “They have to be careful. They will be taking pictures with underprivileged children… it’s starting to look like poverty porn.”
A representative for the couple declined to comment.