The Duchess of Sussex has parted company with her tenth publicist in just five years after a big name she poached from Netflix quit after just three months.
Emily Robinson joined Harry and Meghan’s team as director of communications in June, but she has already jumped ship.
Ms Robinson was always a controversial hire as she had worked on The Crown for years – a show which aired a number of damaging narratives about the Royal Family.
The final series included scenes in which the ‘ghost’ of Princess Diana appeared to speak to The Queen and Prince Charles, which many found insensitive.
One friend of LA-based Robinson, who built up a reputation as a ‘tough cookie’ at Netflix, said: ‘It was her decision. She left a few weeks ago. She’s not a quitter, so things must have been pretty horrible for her to go.’
Ms Robinson’s LinkedIn profile does not currently include any reference to having worked with the couple, but other roles which she has held are listed.
Ms Robinson is at least the tenth publicist to leave the employ of Meghan and Harry since they left the UK for California five years ago (although two former publicists, James Holt and Miranda Barbot, have been promoted into non-PR roles).
Remaining on their team are Liam Maguire, director of communications in Europe, and Meredith Maines, their chief communications officer.
They met the King’s press secretary, Tobyn Andreae, this summer – which is thought to have paved the way for Prince Harry to briefly see his father last month.
The couple have suffered numerous PR disasters, most recently the duchess’s surprise trip to Paris Fashion Week.
She posted a video to Instagram which showed her being driven at night along the Seine – a similar route to that taken by Princess Diana on the night she died.
There was also criticism of her appearance last week in Washington at Fortune magazine’s Most Powerful Women event.
There was an unflattering cover story in Vanity Fair in February which included the claim: ‘The person who worked in media projects read stories in the tabloids about Meghan “bullying” palace aides and couldn’t imagine such behaviour actually happening.
After working with her, though, this person realized, “Oh, any given Tuesday this happened”.’ The Sussexes hit back with a feature in People magazine with a number of employees attesting to their kindness.
Another bump was a piece in The Hollywood Reporter last September which quoted a source as saying: ‘Everyone’s terrified of Meghan. She belittles people, she doesn’t take advice. Harry is a very, very charming person – no airs at all – but he’s very much an enabler. And she’s just terrible.’
Another source added: ‘She marches around like a dictator in high heels. I’ve watched her reduce grown men to tears.’
Some sources say Ms Maines is now enduring a ‘difficult’ time as the couple’s chief communications officer.
A spokesman for the couple said: ‘Ms Robinson oversaw project-based work for a very successful season of With Love, Meghan and additional support for the production company.
‘She did an excellent job and completed these projects with great success.’
