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Meghan Markle is on the verge of a total emotional collapse as her carefully curated life with hubby Prince Harry is coming apart at the seams, sources say.
In a one-two gut punch, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex recently lost their chief U.S. publicist Meredith Maines and longtime ally James Holt, who stepped down as the executive director of the couple’s Archewell Foundation — a position he held for nearly five years.
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The double whammy has left a new dent in the renegade royals’ reputation that the image-conscious duchess is terrified can never be repaired.
“Meghan is in full meltdown mode,” a source says. “She’s blaming everyone around her for her troubles — especially Harry — and people around her are afraid she’s losing it.”
“She’s seeing everything she left England for falling apart and terrified she may have to go crawling back.”
Maines quit after working a scant 10 months, claiming her intended duties were completed, and the departure of Holt — the pair’s longest-serving aide — came less than two weeks after the charity was renamed Archewell Philanthropies as it transitions to a fiscal sponsorship model.
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A rep for the Sussexes says Holt — who plans to move from Los Angeles back to London with his family — will still be a “philanthropic advisor” and support the do-gooders’ humanitarian trips overseas in 2026, per People.
However, sources say the turnover turmoil hints at deeper issues affecting Meghan and Harry’s empire.
“This really — more than anything — shows there is a volatile, erratic operation,” notes royal expert Hilary A. Fordwich. “And the charity is shrinking in terms of donations, in terms of size and in terms of impact.”
As Globe previously reported, sources say King Charles’ second-born son and the former Suits star — who ditched the British royal family in 2020 and embarked on a mission to conquer Hollywood — are struggling as they weather a series of self-initiated crises.
According to an insider, the duchess suffered global ridicule after her Netflix lifestyle show, With Love, Meghan, bombed, and homesick Harry is pining for his old life in England.
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Sources also say the pair — who’ve repeatedly badmouthed their royal relatives — have been dropped by former A-list pals like Barack and Michelle Obama, George and Amal Clooney, Victoria and David Beckham and others, who find their self-obsessed and delusional tendencies too much to bear.
Nearly 25 staffers had reportedly already fled the Sussexes’ domain, and the departure of Maines and Holt are adding to their agony, say insiders, who dish that the diva duchess is lashing out amid fears that former employees may band together to expose her as a bad boss!
Fordwich observes that the defectors came from different backgrounds and professions, adding, “The only common denominator is the dysfunctional situation of working for somebody who is unmanageably high maintenance at best.”
The As Ever lifestyle mogul has been dogged by rumors of an imperious attitude since her 2018 wedding to Harry.
Jason Knauf, the couple’s onetime communications secretary, has even claimed that the former Deal or No Deal suitcase girl bullied two assistants out of the royal household. And since Meghan, 44, and Harry, 41, settled in Montecito, Calif., where they’re raising kids Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4, staffers have called the duchess a “dictator in high heels,” who has reduced grown men to tears, per The Hollywood Reporter.
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Meghan has denied the bullying accusations, with a rep calling them a “calculated smear campaign,” according to Vanity Fair.
Yet, Fordwich warns that the Sussexes — and Meghan in particular — may now find it difficult to attract top talent.
“She has broken up with every relationship she’s ever had — except for her mother and Harry,” Fordwich says. “She has a track record of destroying relationships — both with her own family and, of course, the royal family — ruined relationships with her friends [and] her businesses. Her Netflix ratings have plummeted.”
“There is a consistent pattern of behavior and what it causes — and that’s her track record, and this is all part of that. There is one common denominator — and it’s her.”
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Adding to moping Meghan’s worries, sources say, Harry’s once-frosty relationship with his monarch father continues to thaw as the U.K. Home Office considers resuming his unfettered government security detail during visits to his native country.
Fordwich also believes the outcast duke feels “trapped” in his radically different life in America.
Now, sources say as Charles welcomes his renegade son back into the royal fold, Meghan is likely terrified of losing her man — and knows she’d have to toe the line if she accompanies her husband back to his homeland.
But Fordwich adds, “I don’t think Meghan will ever be happy in the U.K.”