Five o’clock in the morning is
an unusual time for a member of the Royal Family to be issuing
instructions for staff. It smacks of panic and suggests an overly controlling
nature. It is certainly anti-social.
But in the summer of 2018
junior employees at Kensington Palace were becoming wearily familiar with these
dawn emails and texts from the newly married Duchess of Sussex.
Palace officials were at first
quick to offer reassurance: part of Meghan’s working day meant connecting with
contacts in the U.S., they said, when she had to be at her desk because of the
time difference, hence the early messages to staff. They also talked of
‘cultural differences’ in management style. Americans, they suggested, were
more direct.
Meanwhile, friends of the
former actress were gushing to People magazine that Meghan had always prided
herself on being a good boss. On one occasion, they related, she had paid for
an ice cream stand to come to provide free treats for the staff. But over time
these explanations seemed increasingly threadbare.
By October the glow of her and
Prince Harry’s May wedding had long since faded and insiders were openly
describing Meghan as ‘Duchess Difficult’.
