Harry and Meghan’s ‘revolving door’ sees two more staff members leave Archewell… bringing total number the Sussexes have lost since 2018 to sixteen
- Archwell Productions is losing its marketing team lead and internal content head
- The Sussexes are ‘hugely grateful’ for their support on ‘vital look-back projects’
Harry and Meghan are losing two key staffers as their production company remains in the spotlight following the release of Harry’s bombshell memoir and their Netflix docuseries, it was reported last night.
Fara Taylor, who leads the Archewell Productions marketing team, and internal content head Ben Browning are said to be both leaving the company.
The Sussexes are ‘hugely grateful’ for the pair’s support on their ‘vital look-back projects’, adding that Ms Taylor and Mr Browning ‘exceeded expectations’, The Telegraph reported.
The Duke and Duchess have reportedly lost sixteen members of their staff since 2018. However, they did not officially launch the Archewell organisation until late 2020.
Harry and Meghan (pictured in November 2021) are losing two key staffers at Archewell Productions, reports revealed
Fara Taylor, (left) who leads the Archewell Productions marketing team, and Internal content head Ben Browning (right) are both leaving the company
Mr Browning and Ms Taylor are leaving Archewell after having ‘made their mark within the cultural zeitgeist,’ the firm’s head of communications told the newspaper.
Mr Browning, an Oscar-nominated producer, is attributed with playing an ‘integral’ part in the production of the Harry & Meghan series, which was Netflix’s most-streamed documentary series debut.
His departure will be followed by a ‘period of focus on scripted content production,’ reports claim.
Archewell had followed Harry & Meghan with its Live to Lead documentary, created in partnership with the Mandela Foundation.
Live to Lead did not receive the same global response as the couple’s docuseries.
Ms Taylor’s departure comes as the Sussexes were planning to ‘streamline the company’s marketing arm.’
Ashley Hansen, Archewell’s head of communication, will lead the marketing team moving forward.
Mr Browning, an Oscar-nominated producer, is attributed with playing an ‘integral’ part in the production of the Harry & Meghan series (pictured)
The Sussexes are said to be ‘hugely grateful’ for the pair’s support on their ‘vital look-back projects’, including Harry’s memoir Spare (pictured). The couple says Ms Taylor and Mr Browning ‘exceeded expectations’
Ms Hansen applauded the departing staff for their roles in the ‘creation and execution of many critically and commercially acclaimed projects.’
She said they played ‘critical roles’ in helping the Sussexes’ tell their stories and ‘expertly delivered content and campaigns that have exceeded expectations.’
MailOnline has approached Archewell and the couple’s lawyers for comment.
The most recent departures comes after Archewell president and chief operating officer Mandana Dayani stepped down last month, less than 18 months after assuming her role.
Also last month, Rebecca Sananes – head of audio at Archewell – quit after just 18 months. She was hired to produce the Duchess’s Spotify podcast Archetypes.
Below, MailOnline takes a look at the former staffers to the Duke and Duchess who have since left:
Fara Taylor led Archewell’s marketing team
Fara Taylor – January 2023
Fara Taylor led Archewell’s marketing team. She opted to leave the firm in January 2023.
She oversaw the team during the release of the couple’s Netflix docuseries and Harry’s memoir, Spare.
Ms Taylor’s departure comes as the Sussexes were planning to ‘streamline the company’s marketing arm.’
Ashley Hansen, Archewell’s head of communication, will lead the marketing team moving forward.
Oscar-nominated producer Ben Browning has quit working at Archewell following the success of the couple’s Harry & Meghan docuseries
Ben Browning – January 2023
Oscar-nominated producer Ben Browning has quit working at Archewell following the success of the couple’s Harry & Meghan docuseries.
Mr Browning, the company’s internal content head, played an ‘integral’ part in the production of the Netflix series.
Harry & Meghan was the platform’s most-streamed documentary series debut, amassing 81.55 million hours watched in the first week after release.
Archewell had followed Harry & Meghan with its Live to Lead documentary, created in partnership with the Mandela Foundation.
Live to Lead did not receive the same global response as the couple’s docuseries.
Rebecca Sananes
Rebecca Sananes – December 2022
Rebecca Sananes has quit as head of audio at Archewell after just 18 months in the role, according to the Daily Telegraph and US gossip website Page Six.
She was hired to produce Meghan’s Spotify podcast, Archetypes, in July 2021, but has been replaced by media executive Serena Regan.
It has not yet been decided whether a second series of Archetypes will be commissioned.
Mandana Dayani – December 2022
Mandana Dayani stepped down as president of Archewell, the couple’s media empire and charitable foundation, at the weekend.
Mandana Dayani
A spokeswoman for Meghan and Harry said the pair would ‘take full lead of their company’.
With her US media connections, the Iranian-born activist was considered one of the Duke and Duchess’s most important advisers. She has been at Archewell, where she oversaw day-to-day operations, for less than 18 months.
In a statement, Ashley Hansen, Meghan and Harry’s global press secretary, last night said that Ms Dayani ‘has been an integral part of Archewell and we are grateful for her passion, commitment and leadership’.
Toya Holness – May 2022
Toya Holness, who has a degree in strategic PR from the University of Southern California, joined the Sussexes in October 2020 and was promoted to oversee their PR on both sides of the Atlantic in March last year.
Toya Holness
She has previously been described as ‘Meghan’s shadow’ – having often been seen wearing the same style of power suits and Hollywood sunglasses.
The former football player had been one of a small band who speak to Harry and Meghan daily, but is understood to have parted ways with the couple, The Sunday Times reports.
She was said to have ‘wanted out’ after finding herself ‘having to fulfil a great many functions for the couple’, insiders claimed.
Catherine St Laurent – March 2021
The executive director of Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Foundation Catherine St-Laurent stepped down after just one year to take on a ‘senior advisory’ role at the organisation.
Catherine St Laurent
Ms St-Laurent took on the position of chief of staff and executive director of the Sussexes’ non-profit enterprise in April 2020.
The Canadian mother-of-two was said to be ‘the bright hope to run their organisation’.
It was revealed that Meghan and Harry’s UK PR chief James Holt would take on the director role instead.
And, in a sign of the couple’s growing ventures across the pond, it was also announced that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have hired veteran producer Ben Browning to head up their film and TV company.
Natalie Campbell – June 2020
Natalie Campbell, a diversity campaigner, was Harry and Meghan’s big hire to lead their cherished Sussex Royal charity foundation.
Natalie Campbell
She worked with Meghan on cookbook Together, which shone a light on the Hubb Kitchen, a group who came together to prepare fresh meals following the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy.
Poached from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Royal Foundation in August 2019, she worked for the Sussexes for less than a year before leaving for a new job.
Sara Latham – March 2020
Sara Latham, former director of communications, was among a group of 15 employees to have lost her job from Megxit.
Sara Latham
She previously worked for Barack Obama and was hired when the rift between the Sussexes and Cambridges happened.
In his bombshell book Courtiers, Valentine Low writes: ‘At the back of [colleagues’] minds was the feeling that anyone leaving the Sussex team would be best advised to think of a good excuse. Meghan did not like it if she thought it was about her.’
Clara Loughran – March 2020
The New Zealander, 33, first worked for the Cambridges where she met her now husband, PR executive Nick Loughran.
Samantha Cohen
She was handed a key role as the Sussexes project manager, overseeing their charitable projects and helping with their wedding plans. She lost her job when the couple left for a new life.
Samantha Cohen – October 2019
Cohen, the Queen’s assistant private secretary, was planning to leave Buckingham Palace in 2018.
However, she agreed to stay on to help guide the Duchess of Sussex through her first months in the Royal Family.
An Australian who joined the Palace press office in 2001, tough-talking Cohen was respected in Royal circles.
Clara Loughran
She left as the couple’s private secretary last year to work for environmental charity Cool Earth.
Amy Pickerill – March 2019
Ms Pickerill had been tipped to become Meghan’s private secretary after Cohen before she unexpectedly quit as a key aide in May 2019.
The former Treasury press officer had played a key role in Harry and Meghan’s tour of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga in October 2018 – their first Royal tour as a married couple.
Amy Pickerill
Meghan described the loss of her assistant private secretary as ‘very sad’ and sources insisted the split was amicable.
Jason Knauf & Christian Jones – March 2019
Senior communications secretaries Jason Knauf and Christian Jones left to work for the Cambridges.
Mr Knauf was found to have submitted a formal complaint in October 2018 to Prince William’s private secretary, Simon Case, about the bullying he said various members of the household had been subject to.
The Sussexes have always vehemently denied allegations of bullying as a ‘calculated smear campaign’.
Senior communications secretaries Jason Knauf (left) and Christian Jones (right) left to work for the Cambridges
Melissa Toubati
Female protection officer – January 2019
In January 2019, a female royal protection officer also quit her job as the top bodyguard for Meghan.
The officer, who has not been named for security reasons, had been head of Meghan and Harry’s security for less than a year when she left the role.
At the time, a Scotland Yard spokesman said: ‘It’s for personal reasons and absolutely nothing to do with the Duke or Duchess, who are hugely disappointed at losing her.’
Melissa Toubati – November 2018
Deputy communications secretary Katrina McKeever
Meghan’s PA, Melissa Toubati, left after just six months, said to have handed in her notice after the Duchess had left her ‘in tears’ with her demands. Meghan denies the claims.
Katrina McKeever – September 2018
Deputy communications secretary Katrina McKeever quietly departed the Kensington Palace press office in September 2018.
She had a key liaison role with Meghan’s family, including her father Thomas Markle. In Finding Freedom, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand say McKeever ‘left on a good note with the Sussexes’.
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