THE director of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Archewell foundation has left after just a year – weeks after Buckingham Palace launched a probe into claims the Duchess bullied royal staff.
Catherine St-Laurent took on the role in April last year – but it’s been revealed today she’s no longer with the charity.
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She worked for Bill Gates’ charitable ventures for eight years before joining Archewell.
The news emerged just weeks after the Duchess of Sussex, 39, was accused of bullying palace staff in an email from her former press secretary which was sent in October 2018 and later leaked to The Times.
It comes as:
- Meghan could face a fresh privacy court battle as a judge allows a newspaper to appeal
- Meghan and Harry’s wedding certificate proves they didn’t marry three days early
- The couple made a ‘particularly dangerous claim’ about the Queen during their Oprah chat
- Prince William ‘does not feel trapped’ in Royal Family – despite Prince Harry’s claims that he’s ‘stuck in the system’
- William and Harry went for ‘long walk to try to clear the air’ after the Megxit summit but ‘didn’t part as friends’
Multilingual Ms St-Laurent’s Linkedin page still reads: “I am currently acting as Chief of Staff to The Duke and Duchess of Sussex as well as Executive Director of their non-profit, Archewell Foundation.”
There has not yet been a statement on why she no longer works for Harry and Meghan, but rumours abound that James Holt, their UK rep, is coming to the US.
And the Duke and Duchess today confirmed they’ve hired veteran producer Ben Browning as head of content for Archewell Productions and Archewell Audio.
Mr Browning, who will lead the charity’s creative partnerships with Netflix and Spotify, was just nominated for five Academy Awards, including best picture.
COUPLE HIRE OSCAR-NOMINATED PRODUCER FOR NETFLIX DEAL
At the time of Ms St-Laurent’s appointment last year, Meghan and Harry said: “We are proud to be joined by Catherine St-Laurent in this next chapter with us.
“Her leadership and proven track record working within two organisations that have tremendous impact in the world – the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Pivotal Ventures – make her an incredible asset and we’re excited to have her on our team.”
The news comes just weeks after allegations resurfaced that Meghan had “bullied” staff.
In November 2018 The Celeb Report revealed Kate and Meghan had a falling out over the way the American princess had spoken to staff.
Meghan’s former PA Melissa Touabti quit her role at the same time after reports she had been “reduced to tears” by the Duchess of Sussex’s demands.
The French assistant, who had previously worked “happily” for Robbie Williams, resigned after just six months in the job.
Just weeks later, Harry and Meghan’s shared private secretary and top aide Samantha Cohen resigned after 17 years working for the royal family.
In January 2019, Meghan’s female bodyguard of six months, who has never been named for security reasons, also quit, and in June 2019 The Celeb Report also told how Meghan had gone through three nannies in just six weeks after baby son Archie was born.
Meghan’s assistant private secretary Amy Pickerall and Harry’s private secretary Heather Wong also left their team that month.
Most recently, The Times reported claims from Meghan’s ex employee Jason Knauf.
He said in emails he was “very concerned” that Meghan “was able to bully two PAs out of the household”.
A pair of senior staff members came forward last month claiming they had been bullied by Meghan.
And another former aide complained they had been personally “humiliated” by the Duchess, who allegedly also bullied two other members of staff.
Meghan strongly denies the allegations, branding them a “calculated smear campaign”.
However, the Queen launched a probe into the allegations and the Palace released a statement saying they were “very concerned” and would be investigating.
The Palace has since reportedly decided to bring in a third-party law firm to conduct the investigation into bullying claims made by both current and former royal aides.
