Meghan Markle’s 24-word email sign off that her allies are using to defend her from ‘Duchess Difficult’ claims

Meghan Markle’s former staff have revealed insights into the way the duchess communicates through email, including her signature sign off message.

 

The Duchess of Sussex, 43, has been subject of her employees’ scrutiny this week after staff accused her of being difficult to work with, including allegations she sent ‘angry emails at 5am to employees’.

Amid claims that Meghan’s staff call her ‘Duchess Difficult’ and claim that she ‘belittles people’ and ‘doesn’t take advice,’ some staff has also come forward to defend the former royal, arguing she only offers ‘clear direction and is solution-oriented’.

In particular, Meghan was slammed for sending ‘angry emails at 5am,’ acocrding to the Hollywood Reporter.

However, one ally has leaped to her defence, telling according to OK! Magazine, that the Duchess apparently writes at the end of every single email: ‘My working day may not be your working day. Please do not feel obliged to reply to this email outside your normal working hours’

 

 

A spokesman for the Sussexes declined to comment when approached by MailOnline.

But a source close to Harry and Meghan rejected the claims last week, saying the allegations were false.

‘These quotes were fabricated by someone lacking knowledge of our company. The Duke and Duchess work from Montecito, and we’re based in Hollywood. They likely think we’re all in the same office and that this quote would fly, but the circumstances don’t even allow for it. If she’s “marching around” and “barking orders” no Archewell employee could factually claim that. It’s total nonsense’, they said.

‘And the source said on the emails: ‘Who hasn’t sent an email when they can’t sleep or are awake early?

‘I’ve never once ever gotten an email from either of them at that hour and even if I did, The Duchess specifically notes in her email signature that everyone has a different working day and to not feel obligated to respond outside of normal business hours. These source quotes don’t make any sense’.

It comes after one palace courtier who is claimed to have worked for the Duchess of Sussex, said they ‘witnessed people being chewed up in person and over the phone and made to ‘feel like s**t’, according to a report in the Daily Beast on Wednesday.

It was claimed that another former aide said they ‘always thought she was a classic narcissist’ and she was ‘lovely when it is all going her way but a demon when the worm turns’.

The report on Wednesday followed two major articles – with one in the Hollywood Reporter criticising her as a ‘dictator in high heels’, and another in Us Weekly praising her management style.

One courtier who was said to have worked for Meghan and Harry when they were still senior royals was quoted by the Daily Beast as saying: ‘I do think that after the ill-feeling of Megxit, Meghan’s bad moments were amplified and distorted and blown out of proportion.

‘That said, there definitely were bad, very bad… moments. I witnessed people being chewed up in person and over the phone and made to feel like s**t.

‘But it was an incredibly fraught time and I’m inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt. She has said herself she was suicidal at times.’

Another source told the Daily Beast that a florist was ‘screamed at down the phone’ after posting a detail about a bouquet they were working on for her – without identifying Meghan as the client.

This source said: ‘They vowed never to work with her again, despite the prestige of having her as a client. If you were working for her, you were often treated like a tradesman who could be treated like s**t.’

A report from Hollywood Reporter on September 12 called Meghan ‘Duchess Difficult’ and accused her of reducing grown men to tears and that she ‘barks’ out orders.

 

A day later, loyal staff of the Sussex’ gave an opposing account, offering a positive account of their working lives to Us Weekly.

The controversy has come as Meghan’s husband, Prince Harry, has been attending events in New York while Meghan and their children Archie and Lilibet are at home in Montecito, California.

Other accounts have defied characterisations of the duchess as a ‘dictator in high heels’, including one from Josh Kettler, formerly Harry’s chief of staff, who revealed details of his three year tenure working for the Prince,

Speaking to US Weekly, Josh gushed about his stay with the couple and said he was ‘warmly welcomed’ by the couple. Discussing their work ethic, he said: ‘They are dedicated and hardworking. It was impressive to witness.’

Another positive account came from Ashley Hansen, the Sussexes’ current global press secretary, who said Meghan treated her to care packages, regular check-ins, and flowers, following a surgery she had undergone.

Ashley even compared Meghan’s level of care as akin to a parent looking out for their child.

She said: ‘Most profoundly to me, Meghan would personally reach out to my husband daily to make sure that we both were OK and had support. It meant so much to him and even more to me. You don’t realise how much that kind of kindness and thought means until you need it.’

Ben Browning, Archewell’s former head of content – who was responsible for their tell-all Netflix documentary but then left before the end of his contract – said his experience at the company, and with Meghan and Harry in general, ‘was positive and supportive’.

Another anonymous source told Us Weekly: ‘This is the first company I’ve worked [where I] liked every ­person. Harry and Meghan picked the best of the best from every field and watered the seeds for them to flourish. We have an enormous microscope on us. But good things are happening.’

They said Harry asks on work Zoom calls about what staff have done at the weekend and as a team they plan events such as karaoke nights and ‘holiday parties’.

A former staff member said the Sussexes heard they had adopted a dog, and ‘the next day, I had a luxury-brand leash and new ­collar on my doorstep’.

Expectant parents are also given ‘brand-new gifts and top-notch second-hand stuff from the couple themselves ‘like unused car seats and baby items they no longer need’, it was said.

‘They want to take care of us,’ one current employee said. ‘Meghan will do things like, ‘You mentioned on the call your skin is bothering you. I put together a kit for you’.’

‘Whenever staff go to their house, they leave with a basket with fresh flowers, fresh fruit, fresh eggs,’ one staffer said. ‘Best bosses I have ever had,’ another current team member insisted.