Prince Harry suffers fresh blow as senior staffer quits in troubling exodus

As the CEO of Prince Harry’s African children’s charity resigns, the Prince has lost another employee.

The Duke of Sussex and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho co-founded the charity Sentebale in 2006. In recent times, it’s been reported that there have been major changes going on at the organisation, and now, London-based Richard Miller has quit as chief executive after five years in the role.

The charity says Miller will be replaced by an interim executive director, Carmel Gaillard, who is based in Johannesburg, South Africa. This change, according to both Hart and Seeiso, reflects our ongoing commitment to listening to the voices in the region we serve.

They continued, “We sincerely thank Richard for his significant contribution to moving our company forward.” While Miller said in his own statement: “It is the logical next step for Sentebale, and the time is right for this shift to local leadership. Carmel’s tremendous contribution helps Sentebale become a regional leader even more.

It comes a month after Andrew Tucker, whom Harry affectionally calls ‘ Tucks’, stepped back from his senior position at Sentebale, according to Mail Online. It was also reported that Baroness Chalker, the charity’s overseas development minister, left his position as director last month.

Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have recently developed a reputation for being unable to hold onto their employees as they continue to pursue charitable and production projects outside of the company.

In August, it was reported that Harry’s chief of staff, Josh Kettler, left his role after just three months. It is understood Mr Kettler, a high-flying PR executive, was hired on a trial basis and the decision to part ways was mutual, with both sides agreeing it was not the correct fit.

Following Harry and Meghan’s union in May 2018, several members of the staff abruptly resigned. Katerina McKeever, Meghan’s personal assistant Melissa Toubati, a female royal protection officer, and their assistant private secretary Amy Pickerill, all left.

Samantha Cohen, their private secretary, left in October 2019. She had previously worked for the late Queen. Former Times royal correspondent Valentine Low claimed in his book, Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown, that fed-up Ms Cohen likened the job to “working with teenagers”.

I was only supposed to stay for six months, but I did, and we were unable to find a replacement for me. When we did, we took them on an African tour with Harry and Meghan, and they both left (quit) while in Africa.

Their director of communications Sara Latham also parted ways with them after they left their royal lives in 2020. Their chief of staff Catherine St Laurent completed just 11 months at their charitable organisation, Archewell, before she moved on.

She described working for Harry and Meghan as “an incredible experience” in an interview with The Cut. She added: “They are incredibly talented and creative leaders. I’m happy that I had the chance to participate in their journey and be with them. The time that I spent with them was incredibly fulfilling”.

Toya Holness, the couple’s global press secretary, left Archewell just a year later. She had been given the responsibility of managing the public relations of the Sussexes on both sides of the Atlantic. She “wanted out” after finding herself “having to fulfill a great many functions for the couple,” according to insiders at the time.

The in December 2022, then-president of Archewell, Mandana Dayani, left her post after just 18 months. Harry and Meghan were supposed to assume full leadership of the organization at the time, but Archewell’s statement made it clear that they had not gotten into a fight.

Meanwhile, last year, Fara Taylor, who was in charge of marketing at Archewell also left the organisation as Harry and Meghan looked to ‘ streamline ‘ staff.

Source: Mirror