Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are once again at the center of a royal firestorm—this time, not for what they left behind, but for what they’ve built in its place. According to the Mail on Sunday, the couple has restructured their personal staff, creating a hierarchy that closely mirrors the one they walked away from when they quit royal duties in 2020.
At the top of their new setup is Meredith Kendall Maines, a veteran communications strategist who will now oversee an 11-person team operating out of both Montecito, California and the UK. But while the structure might be efficient on paper, not everyone’s impressed—especially royal experts who say the couple is basically copying the same system they’ve spent years criticizing.
Speaking to MailOnline, royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams didn’t hold back. “The hypocrisy lies in the act that Harry has, especially in his most recent interview, attacked courtiers and the Royal Household, considering them enemies. So it is extremely surprising that he should want a similar structure in Montecito,” he said.
Fitzwilliams pointed to Harry’s memoir Spare, where the Duke slammed royal courtiers and framed them as adversaries. “He, as his mother did, regards them as the enemy,” he added. He also highlighted the irony that Harry now wants the kind of security and structure that his mother, Princess Diana, famously rejected.
Another royal insider, Tom Bower, took the criticism even further. In his interview with MailOnline, he called the whole move a “final, desperate bid to save their brand.” According to Bower, Harry and Meghan are less interested in running a polished operation and more focused on projecting influence from their Montecito mansion.
“Undoubtedly, the Sussexes would like to rule over a ‘royal court’ from their Montecito mansion. Nothing would give them greater pleasure than courtiers pulling their forelocks as they bow and scrape to please the Duke and Duchess,” Bower said.
He didn’t stop there. “What the Sussexes have assembled is not a ‘royal court.’ Rather, it’s a hugely expensive group of bureaucrats signalling the Sussexes’ final, desperate bid to save their brand.”
One thing’s for sure—this new team isn’t cheap. The Mail on Sunday reported that each senior appointee is reportedly earning a six-figure salary, a detail that hasn’t gone unnoticed by critics.
Bower compared the Sussexes’ flashy hires to the professionals inside Buckingham Palace, saying, “Buckingham Palace’s ‘royal court’ are under-paid, over-worked devoted loyal professionals committed to the traditions of a thousand-year monarchy and the country they serve.”
He also warned that if Harry continues to commercialize his royal title, his already slim chances of reconciling with the royal family might vanish completely.
Fitzwilliams agreed the revamp raises serious questions, especially in light of past workplace bullying allegations involving Meghan. Still, he left the door open for potential success. “We are promised new projects and initiatives in the months to come and obviously can then judge the success of this revamp,” he said.
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