It was a little bit lost in yesterday’s news about Prince Harry becoming Better Up’s Chief Impact Officer, but the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have reshuffled their staff. The British papers reported a partial, negative version of the reshuffle, which was basically that Archewell’s executive director Catherine St. Laurent was leaving her post. Buried deep in the British media’s reporting was the confirmation that while St. Laurent was leaving the executive position, she plans to stay on in an advisory role for the foundation. Given the other moves in the reshuffle, it sounded to me like Meghan and Harry are both narrowing their focus on what they want Archewell’s charity arm to do, and they have a better idea of who they need in which position to make it happen. But please allow the Telegraph (by way of the Mail) to twist this into another story insinuating that Meghan and Harry bully their staff:

Harry and Meghan’s chief of staff is said to have ‘wanted out’ after finding herself ‘having to fulfil a great many functions for the couple’, insiders have claimed today. Catherine St Laurent was head-hunted by the couple from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to become their ‘chief of staff’ and executive director of Archewell, their new non-profit organisation, last April.

But yesterday it emerged that the Canadian-born mother-of-two had unexpectedly left her post just 11 months into the job. Insiders say Ms St Laurent ‘wanted out’ after performing tasks outside of her contract, according to The Telegraph.

One source told The Telegraph: ‘I think there was a sense that she was having to fulfil a great many functions for the couple – not all of which were necessarily in her job spec.’

Harry and Meghan were dogged by a spate of departures from their ranks as working royals, losing at least two PAs as well as other key staff from their private office. Ms St Laurent was head-hunted by the couple from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to become their ‘chief of staff’ and executive director of Archewell, their new non-profit organisation, last April.

The couple called her an ‘incredible asset’ when they announced her appointment, adding: ‘We are excited to have her on our team.’ But yesterday it emerged that the Canadian-born mother-of-two has unexpectedly left her post. There was no comment from her directly, but according to the New York Post, Miss St Laurent has already stepped down, although she will continue to work with Archewell in an ‘advisory’ role.

She will be replaced as Archewell’s executive director by the couple’s current communications officer in the UK, James Holt. Reports suggest they have no immediate plans to replace him, leaving the Duke and Duchess of Sussex without any official representation in Britain and all their media relations now being handled in the US.

One royal insider expressed surprise at Miss St Laurent’s departure, telling the Mail: ‘She was a huge appointment for them. A big hitter with a great track record, poached to head up their new working life in the US. It is really quite astonishing she has left that role after less than a year.’

Miss St Laurent is apparently launching her own new ‘social impact firm’, supported by and working with Archewell.

[From The Daily Mail]

First, let me say this – it’s one thing for Jason Knauf and Kensington Palace to orchestrate a long-con sabotage of a full-time working royal and leak a partial version of their sabotage as part of a larger character assassination/smear campaign. It’s quite another for Kensington Palace “sources” to openly lie about a Canadian citizen’s reasons for leaving a certain role in an American foundation. The Telegraph might find itself getting sued and slapped down hard. And I’m really shocked that “palace sources” are going to the Telegraph to cast aspersions on the executive staffing decisions in an independently-operated, American-based foundation.

As for the actual story… they can’t even make up their minds about what went wrong or why St. Laurent “left.” Did she leave because Harry and Meghan were “demanding” and someone might have emailed someone else at 5 am? LOL. Or did St. Laurent simply want to start her own firm/business and also wanted to continue helping Archewell in an advisory role? Anyway, the real story is that Kensington Palace still thinks they can leak against Harry & Meghan and claim that Meghan is “bullying” staffers even now that the Sussexes have been in America for more than a year.

Photos courtesy of WENN.