The British tabloids and Hollywood trade papers continuously try to convince people that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have a high staff turnover, and that people run screaming from Meghan in particular once they start to work for her. The Sussexes have done a better job at disputing those stories in recent years. Something magical has happened this year though: suddenly, Harry and Meghan’s communications operation feels top-notch, proactive and on their toes. The launch of With Love, Meghan and As Ever went really well, and there seems to be a real strategy in place, at long last, for how to promote their projects while dealing with the lunatic asylum that is the British media. Everyone has given a lot of credit to Meredith Maines, the Sussexes’ new chief comms officer, who started working for them in March. Apparently, things are going so well, Maines is bringing in more people. From Forbes’ exclusive:

As Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s business and philanthropic efforts continue to expand, Forbes has learned that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s communications team is growing, adding Method Communications as an extension of the already established Sussex communications team, a source close to the matter tells me.

The team from Method was retained by Meredith Maines, who serves as the couple’s first chief communications officer following her appointment in February of this year. The source says that Method will help support Harry and Meghan’s growing business portfolio and philanthropic interests and that the Sussex team is strategically building out communications efforts surrounding Harry and Meghan.

In addition to the hiring of Maines earlier this year, Emily Robinson was recently brought on board as the Duke and Duchess’s Director of Communications. Robinson has 20 years’ experience in entertainment publicity, brand development and strategic communications and previously spent a decade at Netflix—a company with which Harry and Meghan have a close business relationship, inking a deal with the streaming service in 2020. Prior to Netflix, Robinson held communication roles at A&E Networks, Discovery/TLC, VH1 and Bravo, leading campaigns across both scripted and unscripted programming.

“The expanded comms support for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex comes at a time of tremendous growth and success in various business and philanthropic endeavors,” the insider shares, pointing specifically to Meghan’s lifestyle brand As Ever’s April launch, which sold out the brand’s first eight product offerings in 45 minutes. With Love, Meghan—the Duchess’s most recent Netflix offering—released its first season in March with a second season “greenlit and coming soon,” the source shares. Confessions of a Female Founder, Meghan’s podcast with Lemonada Media, wrapped up its first season earlier this week (with a bonus episode featuring Tina Knowles to be released on June 3).

[From Forbes]

While this isn’t the biggest news ever – “the Sussexes hired more comms people!” – it’s a story to reference when yet another dumbass hit piece comes out about Meghan making staffers cry because she wore heels or whatever. From the outside looking in, the Sussexes have built (and are building) a good team in America, a team with experience and professionalism. It’s not just the growth around Meghan’s projects either – Harry’s moves are more buttoned-up these days too. The fact that Harry went to Ukraine and Shanghai without the Windsors or the media having a heads up is pretty huge.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.