Samantha Cohen was always going to be the temporary – and transition – chief of staff/private secretary for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, so it was quite obvious that the British tabloids were trying to smear Meghan yet again by making Cohen’s exit into some kind of evidence that Meghan is “difficult.” Cohen was arguably just supposed to stay on Team Sussex for about six months, but when all is said and done, Cohen will leave the employ of Team Sussex after almost a year. She’s giving Harry and Meg ample time to find her replacement too. Which brings me to Katie Nicholl’s Vanity Fair story on Cohen’s exit, and how Meghan wants her own private secretary, separate from Harry.
She has acquired a reputation for being hard to work for, but that’s not stopping Meghan Markle from looking for a team of new staff. Sources say that Prince Harry and Meghan are looking for a new private secretary and a personal assistant to join their growing household in the new year. Meghan, who is around six months pregnant, has told aides she wants to continue working as close to her due date as possible, and the couple are looking for replacements for two of their most trusted aides, Edward Lane Fox and Samantha Cohen.
While it was reported that the couple are losing another key member of staff, Palace aides have pointed out that Cohen was only ever an interim private secretary. “The couple really like Samantha and had hoped to convince her to stay, but it was always Sam’s intention to leave the household in 2019,” according to a royal source. “She was persuaded to stay on by the Queen to help after the royal wedding but she wants to do something different having been at the Palace for so many years.”
While she is rumored to have fallen out with French P.A. Melissa Touabti, Meghan has a good rapport with Cohen. Together with assistant private secretary Amy Pickerill, Cohen, who has been at the Palace for 17 years, has been instrumental in assisting Meghan’s transformation in to a royal, from helping advise her on how to dress for royal occasions to assisting her on official engagements.
“I think Meghan will miss Samantha a lot, but they always knew she was going,” the source adds. “They are very involved in the process and will be short-listing and interviewing potential applicants from the new year. The idea is that they will each have a private secretary, and Meghan is keen to hire a woman.”
The successful applicant will require plenty of energy. Meghan is an early-riser, waking at 4:30 A.M. for yoga before reportedly firing off 5 A.M. e-mails to staff. With a house renovation to oversee—the couple is moving to Frogmore House at Windsor in the spring—it will be a busy time for the couple as they prepare for the birth of their baby. It is also expected that Meghan will announce at least one new charity in the new year.
I wonder if the British papers will pick up on the whole “Meghan wants her own private secretary” thing. It’s actually not newsworthy, in that William and Kate have had separate private secretaries for years. Kate’s first private secretary was Rebecca Deacon, who fulfilled more of a “catch-all” role of chief of staff, assistant, stylist and confidante. Now Kate has Catherine Quinn, who is used to a more of a traditional private secretary. I see Meghan hiring someone young-ish (or her age) for her private secretary. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Meghan went outside the British-royal-flunkie circles to find someone. Basically, I’m excited that Meghan is taking this seriously and that she seems to be taking the lead in building her own office separate from Kensington Palace.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I love that she seems to be taking this job seriously and is excited to work. You know the Fail is going to criticize her for wanting her own private secretary, even though that’s normal for the royals & Kate has her own as well. Meg really can’t win, no matter what she does.
+1. Another instance of Meghan being criticized for something other royals do without comment or concern.
Actually, it seems like she IS winning, no matter what they do.
Yes, I suspect the media backlash & insider criticism is actually testament to her effectiveness. She instinctively knows how to do this job well & I suspect that’s threatening to some people.
I work in comms in London and I would 100% apply for this job if I saw it, and I would 100% report back to you all (secretly, of course)
Same, I would love to do it.
Me too! It’d be tough but fun
I hope she hires somebody who takes the job seriously and is experienced – Maybe Clarence House will help her?
The fact that she is so involved is fantástic, bit I agree in the sentiment that I hope she finds some one like Catherine Quinn, older and experienced, and -contrary to Kaiser’s feelings- british and from that circle. Being a royal is no easy feat and you need all the help you can get navigating. And for that social class you need one of them. She has the instincts and drive, but still needs the mal with the instructions and keys ….
Harry was born in that sphere and drilled with those nuances, he might choose to ignore them, but he knows what he is ignoring. She should receive a help that is not *complacent* (looking at wills and kate there) and that knows the rules as well as a member of the RF, so she can learn, and then choose to change. But change for change’s sake is not a good idea in that institution.
Apart from the heirs the other households have a joint private secretary for the couple. It’s unusual for those that aren’t heirs to hire a private secretary just for one spouse. The problem the British people might have with this is that it is taxpayer funded. And then add to this the cost of renovating their house also funded by the taxpayer. Similar to Andrew people will understandably start to ask questions about the costs to upkeep the ‘spare’.
Andrew & Fergie often fought to have the same entitlements as Charles & Diana, but it blew up in their faces. Even today Andrew still tries to get some of those entitlements for his daughters but he keeps getting pushed back. Harry & Meghan need to be careful that they don’t walk down that same path of wanting all the entitlements that William & Kate have otherwise public opinion might also turn against them. Especially where taxpayers money is involved.
I feel like Harry has had it drilled into his head since the day he was born that he is “lessor” than William in that way (perks and responsibilities), so somehow I don’t see the Sussexes throwing a strop about it. I do however, see them expecting the same perks as Margaret, Andrew, Edward, and Anne get/got in terms of houses, staffers, financial support, etc. as this is the position that Harry occupies – son and sibling of future monarchs.
I understand that times have changed, but if he isn’t going to get the same level of support then he and Meghan shouldn’t be expected to be full-time royals.
I think the situation is different. It makes sense to have her own though – one private secretary just can’t be expected to take on all of Harry’s work and he does a lot more thanAndrew has ever done with all his Patrons, Sentebale, Invictus, all his campaigns(MENSTAR, etc), the environment AS WELL AS Meghan’s work, especially as it grows in this stage. AND ALL THE COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS.
2 private secretaries would make things easier for everyone and would be good use of taxpayer money bc we know she works hard. Meghan just existing is doing a lot for the image of the British Monarchy.
They already have a house, presumably, they will have staff there, but not as many as WK. As for financial support, that’s on Charles. What are you seeing that they aren’t receiving? Andrew and Edward were gifted estates for their first homes, that’s the only difference I see.
No one cares how “hard” Royals work in the UK! That’s a myth that keeps spreading. Funnily enough, it probably started on this very site. Taxpayer money is still taxpayer money. No matter how much they work or don’t, they all spend public money like it’s water.
Lol…no way has Harry ever worked more than Andrew! For all of Andrew’s faults he is actually one of the hardest workers in the family.
Also the point the poster was making is that only the heirs & their spouse have their own private secretary. The other spouses have to share. If the story is to be believed then Harry & Meghan are wanting special treatment which might be a problem.
I understand what Nancycon was saying, just adding my two cents lol.
Andrew from the 70s to now has done a lot; it is admirable that Andrew does a lot of engagements, it is important to note he is older than Harry and has been working longer but look at what Harry has done in the last 14 years, the level of personal involvement in his work speaks volumes, that is in an different league and I’m just saying its understandable to get an extra person to take care of Meghan’s affairs because Harry’s work itself is a LOT.
They keep reporting the 4am wakeup like it’s a regular thing because there’s one anecdote that it happened (while jet lagged) in Australia. I can’t believe the stuff they come up with based on bits of information and conjecture.
Not only that, but it went from waking up at 5:00 and sending 7 text messages throughout the day to waking up at 4:30 and “firing off” messages at 5:00 am. The lies, they keep on spreading :/
I hear ya Royalwatcher, it’s so frustrating. Meghan mentioned once on the tour that she was up early because she couldn’t sleep, probably due to jet lag/time change, and now it’s gospel truth that she Always gets up at 5am. Argh!
I used to get up at 4 am for work and I promise you – no one ever gets up at that time for fun! I’d be starving for lunch around 10 am, get home around 3pm, have dinner at 4:30, then try really really hard not to pass out on the couch by 6:30. Lol! I can’t even imagine doing it “just cause” to exercise (note to readers – I am a slug).
Anners – I’ll bet she’s used to it due to years of having to be on set for early calls. Don’t shows and movies usually begin filming early and the actors have to be there even earlier for hair and makeup? Sometimes habits built up over years become hard to break. You might find that after you leave your early-rise job, you still wake up early (maybe not 4am, lol, but early). I left a job a few years back where I had to be there around 7 and I still wake up early every morning even though I no longer need to. It’s kind of sad for the days when I actually WANT to sleep in!
There are a few of us who do it for fun. I could sleep in as late as 6:20 and still have plenty of time to get to work, but I choose a 4:30 wake up on weekdays. (And sleeping in on the weekends means waking up around 5am without the need for an alarm.)
There’s just something amazing to me about exercising, bathing, making fresh juice and journaling, all before the sun rises. It makes me feel like I have a leg-up on the rest of the world.
I don’t, but it makes me feel like I do!
Right?? Maybe she does get up at 430 every day (who actually knows) but we heard one anecdote about that while they were on tour – and now its being used along with the 5am texting
(which isn’t the original story even as we know) to support the idea of her being difficult.
I get up at 3:30am and even on my days off sleeping in for me means getting up at 4:30-ish. Most people think I’m nuts but I love early morning, it’s quiet and so peaceful.
Exactly. Every article keeps talking about her “reputation for being hard to work for”, but the ONLY evidence they can point to seems to be jet-lagged early rising and text messages. Until she screams at people and starts throwing cell phones at their head like Naomi Campbell, all these writers can sit down.
I’m getting so excited to see what the new year brings for the Sussex’s, especially what charities/causes the Duchess will take on. It’s such a refreshing change to have a younger royal who is excited about helping others, who doesn’t look at helping others as a huge imposition.
Me too! Cannot wait!
This would be an amazing choice
A female secretary? Groundbreaking.
First the British tabloids are like the US tabloid on steroids and meaner. They think they sell more if they are antagonistic, as it juices up the audience. The royals are kind of a no-brainer too, as there is a significant portion of British society who feel the royals aren’t worth the expense. Plus they have become a very large family-bigger expense. Harry is pretty far now from the throne, so I kind of see the point. I mean Harry and Meghan are Andrew and Sarah just a few decades later and few more places removed from the throne. Sarah was loved at first too, and then she wasn’t and then she started to do some crazy things. Not saying Meghan will be like that, but the gossip rags and the people like this crazy story.
I couldn’t imagine a worse job. Personal assisting/secretaring is like slavery already, but here is a very special case. Catering to an overly energetic and very popular royal, who gets up at 4:30am, doesn’t ever get jetlagged and adores public attention, would be a nightmare for me. Good luck to anyone who gets hired!
Good luck is right. There is a very real reason a position like that usually has such high turnover.
I had horrible insomnia with my last pregnancy! The worst! Also, when you send an email at 5am you are not expecting a response!! Ugh. People are just mad she is rocking her new role.
Sure
Email, sure. But if it IS texts (and who knows if it is, there’s no real proof that this even happened) it’s a lot harder to ignore a text notification than an email one for me. Husband has a work phone and always will get work calls or work texts out of hours, even when he’s not the one on call. And when that’s his main phone, he sees it happen. And once you’ve seen a snippet of what it is, or if you’ve heard a voice mail or whatever – you’re GOING to think about it even if you don’t have to reply until work hours. It weighs on his mind and he’ll feel guilty ignoring it even if it’s not something important. He’s super conscientious and I’m sure his boss could argue ‘well I don’t need a response yet’ but it can’t be unseen. There are plenty of staff who really just don’t care and it won’t bother them for more than a minute. But he’ll end up feeling obligated and start thinking about what he has to do when he gets to work.
He should put his phone on airplane mode when he’s not on call. Or get a separate work phone. That’s really just unreasonable.
That’s also not the story here. But I’m sorry you have to put up with it.
Oh yeah @somechick put it on airplane mode…then when his mother calls having a heart attack (for example) he won’t hear about it and be able to help.
This sounds like an amazing opportunity for a young woman. She needs someone who understands PR/event planning/royal etiquette, perhaps someone who has done some work for nonprofits. Someone who truly wants to do some good in this world.
Let’s be real, this position sounds like a nightmare. And NOT because Meghan has done anything wrong, or deserves the speculative vitriol that the media spews. But seriously I would NEVER want the job of pandering to a stressed out newly minted duchess from Hollywood who is under incessant siege and, even though she’s doing a great job, has such tightly managed schedule requirements. I am not stating that she either does or should not be sending 5am emails but rather that regardless I would not be able to deal.
Oh without a doubt. You couldn’t pay me enough to take this job.
I don’t necessarily blame the assistants for leaving, cos on top of handling Meghan’s day-today affairs, theirs also going to be the added stress/responsibility of baby Sussex in the mix, maybe being an assistant to a new/expecting mother isn’t the ideal job setting for the assistants. Or what they thought they’d be dealing with in this current role soo…
Its a fair reason to leave and move on to a work environment that’s better suited to them.
In future, Meghan Should be the one hiring assistants that will gel well with her life and life changes/situation. Its not a big deal, people switch jobs all the time.