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I guess I’m still capable of being surprised by which royal stories “blow up.” I could not have cared less about the stupid “Meghan wore nail polish and cupped her belly, clutch yo’ pearls” story, so I didn’t even bother to include it in my coverage of Meghan’s appearance at the British Fashion Awards. I swear, like 80% of the comments were about her damn nail polish or Meg touching her own body. Earlier this week, I was also surprised by the strong opinions about Samantha Cohen’s exit as the Sussexes’ private secretary – we knew, months ago, that Cohen was a temporary hire, but that didn’t stop so many people from theorizing that Meghan is a terrible American diva who needs to stop being so American. Katie Nicholl at Vanity Fair claimed that Meghan is looking to hire her own private secretary – rather than share one with Harry – and she hopes to hire a woman. Now Us Weekly has an exclusive about Cohen’s exit and what’s next, with some quotes from royal reporter Omid Scobie:

Various reports suggest Samantha Cohen is leaving her post because of discord with Meghan, with the news coming just weeks after the resignation of Meghan’s personal assistant Melissa Touabti. But the real reason is that Cohen only intended to help the royal couple for a certain amount of time, an insider tells Us.

“She’s not leaving because of any drama with Meghan,” the insider explains of the 50-year-old’s upcoming career change. “She agreed to stay for six months to help post-wedding and because Meghan and Harry were hoping a baby would come soon after that and knew they needed extra help. Samantha has a lot of respect for Harry and Meghan and enjoyed working for them. But her time is now up.”

Meanwhile, a Kensington Palace source tells Us that Cohen will be very busy in upcoming months, especially with the search for her own replacement. “It’s certainly a much longer post than six months,” the source says. “She is still working on Meghan’s first patronages, the baby, and more announcements in the months ahead.”

Royal expert Omid Scobie, who says the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have an “extremely warm and respectful” relationship with Cohen, also vouches for Meghan’s character. “I’ve gotten to know the people who Meghan has in her work world, and I’ve never heard a bad word said about Meghan,” he explains to Us. “Whether it’s members of charities going into the palace for meetings to work with her or household staff, everyone has a pleasurable experience working with her. They’ve really enjoyed her energy and personality. When you hear reports that she’s demanding or a diva, it’s hard to see where any of that comes from.”

Scobie adds: “I’m sure there are people in other royal households who don’t agree with some things that she does or with her delivery, and that is solely based on cultural differences. Americans are direct when it comes to business, and Brits are reserved. So, of course, some things can be misread at times. But I have yet to come across someone in the Kensington Palace household who has a bad word to say about Meghan.”

[From Us Weekly]

“When you hear reports that she’s demanding or a diva, it’s hard to see where any of that comes from.” It comes from racist a–holes. It comes from several different royals and royal-adjacents who have a vested interest in smearing her. I appreciate this though: “I’m sure there are people in other royal households who don’t agree with some things that she does or with her delivery, and that is solely based on cultural differences. Americans are direct when it comes to business, and Brits are reserved.” As I said on Monday – Meghan comes from the American entertainment industry and American business culture. She asks for what she wants and she has expectations of staff. And they can’t handle it.

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Photos courtesy of Getty.