Meghan Markle & Prince Harry Axe More U.K. Staff Members!

Ch-ch-changes!

Per multiple DailyMail.com sources, 15 high-level staff members who were employed by Meghan Markle and Prince Harry at Buckingham Palace have been let go from their positions.

While some will be reabsorbed into other roles in the royal household, some will face total severance. According to the outlet, the Palace said it did not comment on staffing matters but it is understood that senior royals are aware of the current situation.

An insider shared:

“Given their decision to step back, an office at Buckingham Palace is no longer needed. While the details are still being finalized and efforts are being made to redeploy people within the royal household, unfortunately there will be some redundancies.”

Among those to lose their jobs are the couple’s private secretary, communications chief, press officer, and more. The insider added:

“The Duke and Duchess have a small team, less than 15 people. The team are very loyal to the Sussexes and understand and respect the decision they have taken. They are all close and supporting each other. The team are busy helping to set their Royal Highnesses up for the future and working on a series of final engagements.”

Their latest move — in addition to a previous round of staff shuffles — comes just over a month after the announcement of their intention to step back as senior members of the royal family. Though the pair has stated they plan to split their time between the U.K. and North America, this has many convinced they will be spending less and less time across the pond.

A confidant shared with the outlet:

“I do think they will be back a little bit. They genuinely do plan to keep their patronages and maintain that work in the UK.”

Another royal source told the publication:

“I don’t think it will come as surprise to anyone that these have been incredibly trying circumstances for their team, who have experienced some very difficult times of late. They are all good people, very loyal and brilliant at their jobs, and everyone feels incredibly sorry for them.”

Apparently, there’s been some confusion over the past month, which the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have largely spent in Canada, about private engagements and briefings. A newly formed North America-based team has been hard at work on a brand new website, sans involvement from royal advisers. The insider explained:

“There are several instances when advice was clearly been given to them by the Palace team and wasn’t listened to. They have done the best they possibly could against a backdrop of multiple international advisers, publicists and high-profile friends.”

Oops! The confidant continued:

“Harry and Meghan’s team are so loyal, probably to a fault sometimes. They are firefighting for the couple while knowing they are about to lose their jobs. Efforts are being made to redeploy some people. But in truth that will be a small fraction of the total staff.”

While it’s obviously not ideal that any staff members had to lose their jobs because of this, we hope the Sussexes at least looked into the wonders of remote work…

[Image via Dutch Press Photo/WENN.]