What’s going on at Team Sussex? It seems Harry and Meghan are undergoing a big image shake-up, as they’ve brought in a new press team, and said goodbye to other members of staff. According to various reports, two press officers – LA-based deputy press secretary Kyle Boulia and their UK press officer Charlie Gipson – have left, along with two other members of staff.

And Harry and Meghan are now working with a team from Method Communications to help with all things media coverage. This means – according to Meredith Maines, the couple’s new chief communications officer – the couple will now have a bigger team, with ‘an agency support staff of eight’.

‘As the duke and duchess’s business and philanthropic interests grow, I have made the strategic decision to move toward a more traditional communications structure of specialist agency support, as previously reported in Forbes and PR Week several weeks ago,’ the PR expert explained. ‘Transitioning from a team of two to an agency support staff of eight, operating across five different time zones, will give international media and stakeholders better access, and critically, faster response times to inquiries.’

The couple have also hired a new director of communications – who, funnily enough, used to help promote The Crown. Yep, Emily Robinson used to work as a senior publicity director for Netflix, and looked over publicity for the royal drama, as well as other shows.

But why have the pair overhauled their team? ‘They’re restructuring their staff to become a sort of royal household,’ Charlotte Griffiths editor-at-Large for the Mail on Sunday explained on GB News. ‘What’s happened is as part of the restructure, a few heads had to roll.’ She added the departures weren’t a result of people walking out, rather the couple ‘cutting the wheat from the chaff’.

And let’s be honest, it makes sense Harry and Meghan want to try something different, as media coverage surrounding the couple has been less than ideal recently – especially following Harry’s recent bombshell interview with the BBC.

That, and they’re both very busy. With her return to Instagram at the beginning of the year, Meghan’s schedule has been packed publicising her various lifestyle ventures. In March, she made her debut as a TV host, on her Netflix series With Love, Meghan (which, while it landed to lukewarm reviews, became a big hit for Netflix). And her lifestyle brand As Ever also sold out of its first batch of flower sprinkles, raspberry jam and herbal tea.

Meghan’s also launched her podcast series, Confessions of a Female Founder, where she’s handed the mic to guests including Beyoncé’s mom Tina Knowles, who runs haircare line Cécred with her daughter, and SPANX’s Sara Blakely. (However, it’s worth noting this podcast was made with American podcast company Lemonada, as Spotify did not renew their $20 million deal with the Sussexes in 2023.)

Whether these ventures have truly made their mark is debatable, but the couple were up against a challenge anyway. Stacy Jones, founder of LA marketing agency Hollywood Branded, told The Standard at the start of year: ‘Harry and Meghan’s clout has taken a hit over the past year. They’re not going to struggle to get a table at a top restaurant and their presence will always generate buzz at events, but Hollywood’s excitement about them has cooled compared to their early days.’

The pair also reportedly have differing thoughts on the rift between the rest of the royal family. ‘They’re aware of everything going on in England, but they’re being left out of the details – there’s clearly no trust,’ a source told People, adding that Meghan is focused on the future, and more ‘business’ about the family troubles than her husband.

When it comes to the rift, Harry’s interview with the BBC in April – following the court ruling about the pair’s security while they’re in the UK – won’t have helped. Speaking to the BBC’s Nada Tawfik in California, Harry said losing the case felt like an ‘establishment stitch up’. He also said there was ‘no way back to UK with [his] family’ and that he feels as if he cannot ‘escape’ being a royal. (A Buckingham Palace spokesperson told the BBC: ‘All of these issues have been examined repeatedly and meticulously by the courts, with the same conclusion reached on each occasion.’)

But it was what he said directly about his father, King Charles, which made the most headlines – as during the interview, he pleaded for a reconciliation. ‘I don’t know how much longer my father has,’ Harry said, ‘he won’t speak to me because of this security stuff but it would be nice to reconcile.’ Last year, the king was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer, something which he is still receiving treatment for.

Harry also revealed some his family won’t ‘forgive’ him since his memoir Spare was released – but he’s keen to move on. In one of the most poignant quotes from the interview, Harry said there was ‘no point in continuing to fight anymore, life is precious’.