With Prince Harry and Meghan Markle distancing themselves from the family and relinquishing their roles as senior members, additional changes naturally have to be made. One of those major changes is the closing of their office in Buckingham Palace.
Seeing as the couple won’t be conducting business from the palace, there was no need to keep it open. Unfortunately, though, the staff that they had to maintain the office has been fired, as a result. A source close to the royal family shared information on the firings.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex broke the news to the staff last month amid their decision to move to North America and while it’s reported that a couple of employees might be able to find other staffing employees within Buckingham Palace, the others are currently negotiating severance packages, amid their exits.
Although Buckingham Palace does not speak on staffing matters, sources close to the family have shared with The Daily Mail some of the specifics going on with individual staffing members.
Harry and Meghan to close #BuckinghamPalace office and cut staff#PrinceHarry #MeghanMarklehttps://t.co/n9hrtkZ8kM pic.twitter.com/lthMSohOje
— World News Network (@worldnewsdotcom) February 14, 2020
“Given their decision to step back, an office at Buckingham Palace is no longer needed,” an insider told the Daily Mail. “While the details are still being finalized and efforts are being made to redeploy people within the royal household, unfortunately, there will be some redundancies [firings].”
Two known firings include the couple’s Communications Chief, Sara Latham, and the newly-appointed personal secretary, Fiona McIlwham. Clara Loughran, Harry’s program coordinator, who handled the floral arrangements at the couple’s wedding, also has been let go.
“The Duke and Duchess have a small team, less than 15 people. The team are very loyal to the Sussexes and understand and respect the decision they have taken,” the source continued. “They are all close and supporting each other. The team are busy helping to set their Royal Highnesses up for the future and working on a series of final engagements.”
It’s currently unknown if any other personal staff is being retained in some capacity among the Buckingham Palace firings.
And while Prince Harry and Meghan are relieving the palace staff of their duties, the couple has made sure to add people to their team as they adjust to life in Vancouver, as well as, Los Angeles.
Due to the high media scrutiny the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have received since their decision to leave the United Kingdom, they’ve had to hire additional security coming from British forces and Canadian Mounties. Additionally, the couple has bolstered their bodyguard staffing to add extra security.
