Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are set to lose their eleventh publicist in just five years – having also parted with their US-based PR agency and amid continuing accusations the couple are ‘difficult’ to work with.

Meredith Maines, who worked as their chief communications officer, has revealed she is stepping down after just a year in the role with Meghan and Harry.

Her departure comes as US-based Method Communications PR announced it too would be ending its tenure with the Sussexes after just seven months.

Ms Maines’s exit follows in the wake of Emily Robinson leaving as director of communications for the couple only two months ago. Insiders had suggested Ms Maines was experiencing a ‘difficult’ time since her colleague left.

The high-flying PR professional had also been at the centre of a media storm over the summer when she was pictured meeting with King Charles‘s communications secretary Tobyn Andreae in London. The rendezvous was said to have been part of a secret ‘peace summit’ between the two camps.

Both Harry, 40, and his father, 76, are said to be keen to reconcile, especially after the King was diagnosed with cancer last year.

However, Harry and Meghan are said to have been frustrated that photographs of the extraordinary meeting – which took place in July at a private members’ club in Mayfair – were published in an exclusive for The Mail on Sunday.

Sources close to Prince Harry insisted the Sussexes were not responsible for passing details of the meeting on to the newspaper.

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Meredith Maines, who was appointed as chief communications officer, is parting ways with Harry and Meghan after a year in the role

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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are set to lose their eleventh publicist in just five years after their ‘cheerleader’ spin doctor announced she is stepping down

Of her now imminent departure, Ms Maines issued a statement speaking of her ‘gratitude and respect’ for the couple.

She said: ‘After a year of inspiring work with Prince Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Archewell, I will be pursuing a new opportunity in 2026.

‘I have the utmost gratitude and respect for the couple and the team, and the good they are doing in the world.’

Meanwhile a spokesman for the couple said: ‘Meredith Maines and Method Communications have concluded their work with Archewell.

‘The Duke and Duchess are grateful for their contributions and wish them well.’

It is understood that Liam Maguire, their UK and Europe director of communications, will now lead on all publicity-related work.

According to her LinkedIn, Maines started working as chief communications officer (CCO) for the Sussexes in March 2025.

She wrote that as CCO, she oversees ‘all external communications’ for Harry and Meghan.

This includes Meghan’s lifestyle brand As Ever, launched in April this year; their media production company, Archewell Productions; and their joint charity, Archewell Philanthropies.

Maines said earlier this year that the hiring of Method Communications in the Sussex PR team would give international media and stakeholders ‘better access’ as well as a faster response time to inquiries.

The departure of Ms Maines follows the departure of Ms Robinson, who joined Harry and Meghan’s team as director of communications in June, but had already jumped ship by October.

Ms Robinson was 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.

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Her departure comes five months after Ms Maines met with King Charles’s communications secretary Tobyn Andreae in London as part of a secret ‘peace summit’ between the two camps

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.’

The departure of Ms Robinson and now Ms Maines in a matter of months means the couple have lost 11 publicists since leaving the UK for California five years ago (although two former publicists, James Holt and Miranda Barbot, have been promoted into non-PR roles).

In the last year alone, the couple have suffered numerous PR disasters, most recently the duchess’s surprise trip to Paris Fashion Week in October.

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 that same month in Washington at Fortune magazine’s Most Powerful Women event.

Meanwhile the couple had to navigate 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”.’

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The departure of Emily Robinson (pictured) and now Ms Maines in a matter of months means the couple have lost 11 publicists in just five years

The Sussexes hit back with a feature in People magazine with a number of employees and associates attesting to their kindness.

One Netflix crew member said of the Prince while filming With Love, Meghan: ‘Whenever Harry visited set, he was always super polite and friendly.’

The director of the series added: ‘Everyone has this one version of [Meghan], but she’s just someone who is hustling and working and doing.’

There were however more PR obstacles ahead for the couple including a piece in The Hollywood Reporter last September. One source was quoted 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.’

A second source added: ‘She marches around like a dictator in high heels. I’ve watched her reduce grown men to tears.’

But an insider close to the couple denied the allegations, saying they had been ‘fabricated by someone with no knowledge of our company’.

Some sources claimed Ms Maines had been enduring a ‘difficult’ time as the couple’s chief communications officer prior to the announcement of her departure.

The Daily Mail has reached out to the couple’s representatives for comment.