Meghan Markle was the subject of a damning Hollywood Reporter exposé earlier this month in which an ex-employee described her as a “dictator in high heels.”
But other staffers are now sharing a different story, saying the Duchess of Sussex, 43, was “great to work for.”
In interviews with US Weekly, five current and former employees attempted to counter the barrage of bad publicity by saying Markle was “supportive” and “solution-oriented.”
Employees admitted that the royal would send staff emails as early as 5 a.m., but she let them know they were not required to reply at that time.
“My working day may not be your working day,” Markle purportedly writes on her emails. “Please do not feel obliged to reply to this email outside your normal working hours.”
The email rule was evidence that Markle was a flexible and fair-minded boss, the staffers claimed.
Meanwhile, one former employee told the outlet that the Duchess insisted on sharing the credit with her team, which boasts around 16 staffers working for production on various Netflix projects, podcasts, the Archell Foundation, and communications.
“If you’re in a meeting and a great idea is referenced, she makes sure to give props to the person who generated the idea,” the ex-staffer revealed. “[After] a big trip, every employee gets a personal email thanking them for their contribution in making it a success.”
One former employee even went on the record to defend the Duchess.
Ben Browning, former head of content at Archewell, said the work environment fostered by Markle and her husband Prince Harry, 40, “was positive and supportive.”
“We all continue to be friends, he said. “The narratives we’ve seen suggesting the contrary are untrue.”
Current team members also backed up the royal couple.
One anonymous employee told US Weekly they had “never” heard Markle yell, adding that the “Suits” alum “gives clear direction and is solution-oriented.”
“We’re here for a reason,” the staffer said. “If you come for our bosses, you’re coming for us. This isn’t a criminal organization. We’re trying to do good.”
Earlier this month, the bombshell Hollywood Reporter account featured quotes from staffers who said Markle had alleged that “everyone’s terrified of Meghan.”
“She belittles people, she doesn’t take advice,” one source claimed. “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.”
“She’s absolutely relentless,” another insider told the outlet. “She marches around like a dictator in high heels, fuming and barking orders. I’ve watched her reduce grown men to tears.”
Markle and Harry have had high staff turnover throughout the years. Markle’s top aide and private secretary departed in 2021, and last month, the couple’s chief of staff resigned after just three months on the job.
To make matters worse, another bombshell report from the Daily Beast dropped Wednesday, accusing the starlet of being a “demon” and allegedly mistreating former employees.
A person who allegedly worked for the couple as part of Markle and Harry’s service in the UK while they were still working royals told the outlet: “There definitely were bad, very bad, even psycho moments.”
The source continued: “I witnessed people being chewed up in person and over the phone and made to feel like s–t. It was an incredibly fraught time, and I’m inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt. She has said herself she was suicidal at times.”
A second insider who alleged to have worked with Markle leading up to her 2018 wedding to the Prince called her a “narcissist.”
“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,” they said.
The insider added: “She is lovely when it is all going her way but a demon when the worm turns.”
A separate source claimed a florist got “screamed at down the phone” for half an hour because they allegedly “posted an insignificant detail online about a bouquet they were working on for Meghan.”
The source explained, “They vowed never to work with her again, despite the prestige of having her as a client. If you were working for her, you were often treated like a tradesman who could be treated like s–t.”
