By Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images.
The unusually high turnover of staff at Kensington Palace has earned the Duchess of Sussex the moniker “Duchess Difficult” in the press, but Vanity Fair has learned that Meghan Markle actually has a loyal following at the palace, and that the couple’s interim Private Secretary Samantha Cohen is staying on to help the Sussexes until the birth of their baby this spring.
It was previously reported that Cohen, who has worked for the royal household for 17 years, was to be the latest in a series of sudden high profile departures. While Cohen will be leaving later this year, she has agreed to stay through the spring in order to support the couple, who are expecting a child in April.
Palace aides say the couple are thrilled that Samantha, who is nicknamed “Samantha the Panther” in royal circles, will be staying on to help them while they find a replacement private secretary. “Sam was always going to be an interim private secretary until the Duke and Duchess found a permanent one,” says a source. “Sam gets on well with Meghan and Harry and she has agreed to stay on and help them until after they have had the baby and found a full time replacement private secretary so that the hand over will be completely seamless.”
The private secretary is a key member of staff whose job includes managing the couple’s diaries, charitable commitments, and official engagements. Harry and Meghan are said to be assiduously searching for the right candidate. Since the royal wedding, the couple have lost a number of key aides including Harry’s former private secretary Edward Lane Fox, his assistant, Melissa Toubati—who reportedly left because she couldn’t keep up with the Duchess’s demands, and Meghan’s newly appointed head of security, who left suddenly just months into the job.
With the Sussexes about to start a new life in Windsor, they are said to be keen to form a new team of staff whose job will be to commute between London and the countryside. This weekend, the Sunday Times reported that the Sussexes will have their own office up and running in time for the royal birth. The paper reported that tensions between the Sussexes and Cambridges are leading to the split. However, aides insist the new working arrangement is for practical purposes, as the four royals have different roles and different needs.
It is expected that the current press team will be divided up between the four principals, and Vanity Fair has learned that two senior press officers have already been assigned the task of planning the media operation for the royal birth. Kensington Palace’s latest public relations recruit, Christian Jones, will help oversee the birth plans and is expected to be heavily involved with the Sussexes on a day-to-day basis. Current head of communications Jason Knauf will continue to oversee the entire communications team out of Kensington Palace.
Aides are bracing themselves for a busy couple of months. The Sussexes are off to Morocco later this month. Meanwhile they are still completing a refurbishment at their new home Frogmore Cottage and busily carrying out engagements while they prepare for the baby’s arrival, media event they expect to be just as big as the birth of Prince George.
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This story was originally published by Vanity Fair
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