Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are ending the year with a significant development impacting their careers. Ashley Hansen, who has served as global press secretary for more than a year, has resigned. According to a now-deleted article from the Sunday Times, a source has shed light on Ashley’s departure from Harry and Meghan’s core team. It appears Ashley has been exploring freelance opportunities independently. Despite being highly regarded within the team, tensions arose due to clients sometimes not heeding his advice.
A source mentioned: “Ashley tried freelancing on her own. It didn’t work out with Harry and Meghan. She’s really good and well-liked by their team, but clients don’t always listen to her advice.” According to the Times, after announcing their withdrawal from royal duties in January 2020, Harry and Meghan said they would no longer engage with the British tabloids.
Any emails sent on behalf of the couple to editors in April 2020 emphasized that there would be no cooperation or engagement from the couple and the media team. However, with Hansen as communications chief, this position has evolved into a more collaborative approach with certain publications.
During Sussex’s participation in this year’s Invictus Games in Dorf in September, tabloid journalists were included in a WhatsApp media group with their communications team. They were regularly updated on the couple’s activities, Meghan’s outfits and the fact that she did her own hair and makeup.
Ashley Hansen has played a crucial role since she replaced former head of communications, Toy Holess, in May 2022. The Iranian-American background has helped Harry and Meghan navigate several PR challenges over the course of of the year, including dealing with the fallout from the Netflix documentary, Harry’s. memoirs and advised them at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth.
Before Holess, the head of communications was Christine Shermer, former head of media at Pinterest, who held this role at Archewell for 9 months from October 2020 to July 2021 before becoming the couple’s senior advisor. Earlier this year, Ben Browning, an Oscar-nominated British producer and former head of internal content at Archewell Productions, the foundation’s film and audio division, also left his position.
Farah Taylor, who led Archewell’s marketing team, also left. In December 2022, shortly after the release of the first trailer for Harry and Meghan’s Netflix series, Mandana Diani, an Iranian-born activist and entrepreneur, resigned from her role as president of Archewell after less than 18 months. Hansen said Diani’s transition was mutually planned with the intention of the Sussexes taking full control of their business.
Additionally, Rebecca Senes, who was responsible for audio at Archewell, has left her position. Senes joined in July 2021 and collaborated with Meghan on the 12-episode podcast series Archetypes released last year as part of the couple’s multi-million pound deal with Spotify. Unfortunately, the series was not renewed, and in June it was announced that the Sussexes and Spotify had mutually agreed to part ways, ending the deal prematurely.
In April 2020, Harry and Meghan selected Catherine St Laurent, a Canadian-born mother of two, to become chief of staff and executive director of Archewell. Katherine, who previously served as Melinda Gates’ communications manager at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, completed her term the following March. However, after the publicity generated by the Netflix documentary and the publication of Harry’s memoir, the Sussexes have faced several public relations challenges this year.
