Vipers? No, these were loyal stars of Team Meghan
THERE have been jibes about ‘The Vipers’ in the Palace – courtiers who undermined Meghan and Harry at every turn. But the truth was the Duchess was surrounded by an ‘A-team’ of high-achieving women all wanting to promote their boss’s world vision. Sadly, they all eventually lost their jobs, as they either quit or found their roles made redundant when the Sussexes dramatically left The Firm.
MELISSA TOUABTI
The Duchess’s personal assistant quit in 2018 amid reports that she had been reduced to tears. The French assistant played a key role in the preparations for Harry and Meghan’s wedding in May 2018 but her departure just six months later was an early sign of tensions within the Sussex camp. Meghan was said to be deeply unhappy with how the departure of Touabti, who previously worked for Robbie Williams, was publicly depicted.
SAMANTHA COHEN
Cohen, the Queen’s assistant private secretary, was planning to leave Buckingham Palace in 2018 but agreed to stay on to help guide the Duchess of Sussex through her first months in the Royal Family.
An Australian who joined the Palace press office in 2001, tough-talking Cohen was respected in Royal circles. She left as the couple’s private secretary last year to work for environmental charity Cool Earth.
AMY PICKERILL
Ms Pickerill had been tipped to become Meghan’s private secretary after Cohen before she unexpectedly quit as a key aide last May. The former Treasury press officer had played a key role in Harry and Meghan’s tour of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga in October 2018 – their first Royal tour as a married couple. Meghan described the loss of her assistant private secretary as ‘very sad’ and sources insisted the split was amicable.
NATALIE CAMPBELL
Ms Campbell, a diversity campaigner, was Harry and Meghan’s big hire to lead their cherished Sussex Royal charity foundation.
She worked with Meghan on cookbook Together, which shone a light on the Hubb Kitchen, a group who came together to prepare fresh meals following the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy. Poached from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Royal Foundation in August 2019, she worked for the Sussexes for less than a year before leaving for a new job.
KATRINA MCKEEVER
Deputy communications secretary Katrina McKeever quietly departed the Kensington Palace press office in September 2018.
She had a key liaison role with Meghan’s family, including her father Thomas Markle. In Finding Freedom, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand say McKeever ‘left on a good note with the Sussexes’.
FIONA MCILWHAM
Ms Mcilwham clinched her job as the couple’s private secretary after impressing them with her achievements as one of Britain’s youngestever ambassadors.
She completed a strategic leadership course at the Royal College of Defence Studies last year and lives in a £1million house in North London with husband Daniel Korski, a former senior aide to David Cameron. Described as ‘the safest pair of hands you can get’ she accompanied the couple on their tour of South Africa last autumn but then had to navigate the fall-out of their decision to step down.
HEATHER WONG
Glamorous Ms Wong was Harry and Meghan’s former deputy private secretary. She was tasked with focusing on some of the couple’s most cherished initiatives.
She previously worked in the Obama administration as deputy assistant secretary of public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security. She now works for Harry’s new sustainable travel initiative, Travalyst.
CLARA LOUGHRAN
The New Zealander, 33, first worked for the Cambridges where she met her now husband, PR executive Nick Loughran. She was handed a key role as the Sussexes project manager, overseeing their charitable projects and helping with their wedding plans. She lost her job when the couple left for a new life.