Eden: The Sussexes’ chief-of-staff quit after three months (update: confirmed)

In the past ten months, here’s a brief summary of what has gone down in Kensington Palace. First, Prince William couldn’t shut up about his revolutionary new plan to hire a palace CEO to do all of his chief-executive work. Then his private secretary, Jean-Christophe Gray, quit because William is a lazy idiot. Then Kate had some kind of medical emergency and months of clownish staff work followed. Then Buckingham Palace basically assigned two new private secretaries to William and Kate, because Kate couldn’t hire or keep a private secretary for about eighteen months. And finally, KP called off their big search for a CEO, because again, no one wants to work in that fakakta office. Well, instead of focusing on any of that – William and Kate’s chaotic staff turnover and their inability to hire or keep capable people around them – Richard Eden at the Daily Mail has a new piece about Prince Harry and Meghan’s chief of staff.

When the Duke of Sussex appointed Josh Kettler as his grandly titled chief of staff earlier this year, it was said that he was the perfect man to ‘guide’ Harry ‘through his next phase’. However, the Daily Mail understands that Mr Kettler has suddenly quit his job after scarcely three months, amid much intrigue.

‘Josh Kettler is no longer working for them,’ a source in California told this newspaper today. The timing is a particular blow to Harry and his wife Meghan as Mr Kettler would have been expected to accompany them on their ‘quasi-royal tour’ of Colombia, which kicks off this week.

In May, Mr Kettler joined Harry on his visit to London to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Invictus Games, the sporting event the prince created for injured and sick service personnel. Mr Kettler was seen entering St Paul’s Cathedral with the duke for the anniversary service, which was attended by figures including Harry’s uncle, Earl Spencer, but no other members of the Royal Family. Later that month, Mr Kettler was a key figure on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s three-day ‘tour’ of Nigeria and was by Harry’s side as he met government officials in the West African country. His role on the visit was said to be a foretaste of what he would achieve in the future.

Mr Kettler’s very brief time in his position highlights the difficulties that the Duke and Duchess have had retaining staff. The total number the Sussexes have lost since they married in 2018 is said to be at least 18, with nine or more having left since they moved to California in 2020.

One former member of staff told the Daily Mail yesterday: ‘What may be most telling is that the entire time I worked there, I don’t think I heard a single current or former employee on their staff say they would take the job again if given the chance. These aren’t employees they had just found off the streets. Many of them are people who had previously excelled working for demanding bosses in high-performance companies and environments.’

[From The Daily Mail]

“The total number the Sussexes have lost since they married in 2018 is said to be at least 18, with nine or more having left since they moved to California in 2020…” What are we doing here? How are we counting and who gets counted? Because everyone has made it abundantly clear that William and Kate shared staff with the Sussexes from 2017-2019. Those were the staffers who largely facilitated the inside-job smears on Meghan. What’s also notable about that era of KP – the staffers who worked for either couple in 2017-2019 – is that almost none of them remain. Like, I believe Harry and Meghan have had some staff turnover in the past five years as they build Archewell and their commercial brands. But it’s ridiculous to give this kind of energy to the Sussexes’ staff IN AMERICA while William and Kate’s senior palace staffers have left in droves during the same time period.

Update: The Sussex camp confirmed this to People Mag: “The Duke of Sussex’s chief of staff, Josh Kettler, has left his position after three months, PEOPLE understands. Hired on a trial basis, the decision to part ways was mutual, with both sides agreeing it wasn’t the right fit.” In other words, it’s two adults handling their business and Eden needs to stop screeching.

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