The A-team, of high-achieving women all wanting to promote their boss’s world vision 

There have been jibes about ‘The Vipers’ in the Palace – courtiers who undermined Meghan and Harry at every turn. But the truth was the Duchess was surrounded by an ‘A-team’ of high-achieving women all wanting to promote their boss’s world vision. Sadly, they all eventually lost their jobs, as they either quit or found their roles made redundant when the Sussexes dramatically left The Firm.

Melissa Touabti

The Duchess’s personal assistant quit in 2018 amid reports that she had been reduced to tears. The French assistant played a key role in the preparations for Harry and Meghan’s wedding in May 2018 but her departure just six months later was an early sign of tensions within the Sussex camp. Meghan was said to be deeply unhappy with how the departure of Touabti, who previously worked for Robbie Williams, was publicly depicted.

Samantha Cohen

Cohen, the Queen’s assistant private secretary, was planning to leave Buckingham Palace in 2018 but 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. She left as the couple’s private secretary last year to work for environmental charity Cool Earth.

Ms Pickerill had been tipped to become Meghan’s private secretary after Cohen before she unexpectedly quit as a key aide last May 

Amy Pickerill

Ms Pickerill had been tipped to become Meghan’s private secretary after Cohen before she unexpectedly quit as a key aide last May. 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. Meghan described the loss of her assistant private secretary as ‘very sad’ and sources insisted the split was amicable.

Natalie Campbell

Ms Campbell, a diversity campaigner, was Harry and Meghan’s big hire to lead their cherished Sussex Royal charity foundation.

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.

Ms Campbell, a diversity campaigner, was Harry and Meghan’s big hire to lead their cherished Sussex Royal charity foundation 

Katrina McKeever

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’.

Fiona Mcilwham

Ms Mcilwham clinched her job as the couple’s private secretary after impressing them with her achievements as one of Britain’s youngest-ever ambassadors.

She completed a strategic leadership course at the Royal College of Defence Studies last year and lives in a £1 million house in North London with husband Daniel Korski, a former senior aide to David Cameron. Described as ‘the safest pair of hands you can get’ she accompanied the couple on their tour of South Africa last autumn but then had to navigate the fall-out of their decision to step down.

Ms Mcilwham clinched her job as the couple’s private secretary after impressing them with her achievements as one of Britain’s youngest-ever ambassadors 

Heather Wong

Glamorous Ms Wong was Harry and Meghan’s former deputy private secretary. She was tasked with focusing on some of the couple’s most cherished initiatives.

She previously worked in the Obama administration as deputy assistant secretary of public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security. She now works for Harry’s new sustainable travel initiative, Travalyst.

Clara Loughran

The New Zealander, 33, first worked for the Cambridges where she met her now husband, PR executive Nick Loughran. 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.

The New Zealander, 33, first worked for the Cambridges where she met her now husband, PR executive Nick Loughran