So now Meghan’s a fabulous boss whose staff just adore her? Pass me that halo and let her duchessy love light shine, says JAN MOIR

Like a cavalry on its way to rescue its wounded leaders, former and current employees of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex rushed to the printers this week to heap praise on their bosses.

In the pages of Us Weekly, an influential American showbiz magazine popular with teens and teen mothers, readers of print and online were informed in amazement by Team Sussex that Prince Harry was a great guy, no frills, just a regular guy, rah-rah-rah.

And what about girl boss Meghan? According to those who worked for her and lived to tell the tale, she was also absolutely amazing. No, really. Give me that halo and let her ducal light of love shine.

Because she was kind and thoughtful. She made amazing gourmet snacks. “Some of my favorite memories,” said former Archewell president Mandana Dayani, who stayed for 18 months until leaving in 2022, “were during our weekly meetings at her home in Montecito, where Meghan would always serve the most incredible lunches and her latest beautiful creations.”

I’m imagining delicious treats like ‘vegetable soup’ and ‘green salad’, and maybe even a delicious ‘egg omelet’ from the shelter’s chickens.

While the Sussexes spelled out the positive aspects for posterity, it was difficult to determine the true nature of their relationships with their bosses. Lawyer-client, doctor-patient, jailer-prisoner, star-citizen, duchess-serf?

And was it my imagination, or did the outbursts of these worker drones recall the growing hysteria of someone chained to a radiator in the basement of Archewell Towers, hoping to be home for Christmas?

In their parti pris nonsense, Meghan was a Tinker Bell of treats, a Mother Teresa of generosity; a goddess of gift-giving who lavished her staff with bow-tied presents and who, true to their style, shared and cared.

“When I adopted my dog, the next day there was a luxury brand leash and a new collar on my doorstep,” said a former employee, who, funnily enough, thought the gifts were for her dog.

“They want to take care of us,” a current employee told Us Weekly. “Meghan is like, ‘You said in the interview that your skin is bothering you. I put together a kit for you.’

Is that being kind and helpful? Is that paying attention to the spotty cripples – or a silent message to up their game?

For those of us who have spent our entire lives in offices and other work environments, with both good and bad bosses, the thought of a superior sending you a jar of anti-wrinkle cream or self-improving ointment is truly terrifying. It makes me want to die.

But listen, there’s more. Meghan, an aide said, is known for giving credit where credit is due.

‘If you’re in a meeting and a great idea is mentioned, she makes sure to compliment you [respect and appreciation] “To the person who came up with the idea,” they said. “And after a big trip, every employee gets a personal email thanking them for their contribution to its success.”

An email! Oh, how sweet. Isn’t this low respect the least a valued employee deserves?

The flattering comments in Us Weekly came in response to a scathing article in The Hollywood Reporter, which alleged that the duchess’s “appalling behavior” was the root cause of the high staff turnover at the couple’s company Archewell.

The report in the entertainment industry bible earlier this month claimed that many of those who work and have worked for Meghan are “terrified” of her, and included quotes from sources calling her a “dictator in high heels” who “belittles” people and “has reduced grown men to tears.”

I should note here that Us Weekly is to the Sussexes what Pravda was to Stalin and the Guardian is to Labour MP Jess Phillips – a blaring trumpet of uncritical support. So we heard extensively about the Archewell team’s visits to the couple’s Montecito country house, where Meghan gave everyone baskets of flowers, fruit and eggs to take home. So sweet of her! She also passed around her children’s hand-me-downs. Is there no end to her generosity?

One employee even told Us Weekly that they’d “never” heard Meghan’s reputation as a mini-tyrant scream. Instead, the duchess gave her staff “clear direction and is solutions-oriented” — which makes her sound like a pretty sweet and easy-going bottle of glue.

And when it came to hiring staff, another enthusiastic Archewell supporter insisted that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex always ‘picked the very best from every field and watered the seeds so that they could flourish’.

But what are Harry and Meghan growing for posterity out there in California – an Archewell empire or a wet squib? Seeds, solutions, eggs… what on earth is going on here?

Of course, these allegations aren’t new to royal-watchers in the U.K. The Duchess of Sussex has long been dogged by reports that she fostered a toxic work environment, along with repeated accusations of what her lawyers insist to this day should be called “difficult” behavior. In 2021, reports that the former actress had allegedly bullied and reduced staff members to tears at Kensington Palace were dismissed by the Sussexes as slander. Still, it’s no secret that the couple has lost 18 employees to date in their short time as a corporate entity in both the U.K. and the U.S.

A new US source has blamed the ‘unbearable’ and ‘condescending’ Meghan for the alarming ‘churn and burn’ ratio. The rumours just won’t go away, but the big difference this time is that it’s US news organisations making the claims.

Maer Roshan, co-editor-in-chief of The Hollywood Reporter, said he still stands by the story after it was heavily criticized. One Sussex source said the claims were “fabricated.”

Roshan told Access Hollywood, “Our reporter spoke to a very senior source who works for the couple and said, ‘Everyone is terrified of Meghan.’

‘Duchess Difficult is a moniker that Meghan Markle has been going by for a number of years. What is new is that this idea, since she came to America, that a lot of these rumours are fabricated by the palace – the reporting that we’ve done suggests that’s probably not true and there’s still an undercurrent of fear.’

Many of you may remember Prince Harry telling the world in his various documentaries and interviews in his high, tight, hurt voice: ‘There is a hierarchy in the [Royal] Family. You know there is leakage, but there is also planting of stories.’

Even The Hollywood Reporter, a neutral observer, is now raising an eyebrow. This is devastating for a couple whose reputation has thus far survived by blaming their troubles on the royal family and the British press, rather than investigating their own alleged bad behavior.

Just a few issues ago, the Duchess of Sussex smoothed out the creases of her guilt-free kilt in Us Weekly and told everyone she was starting “a joyous chapter” in her life and that everything was going smoothly.

But now the Sussexes are back to square one, spending time, energy, favours and friends defending themselves against the indefensible.

We’ve been here before and now we’re back again, swimming against the avalanche of bad publicity, slaloming through the snow dunes of snark.

It makes me wonder: was this flight west by the Sussexes – this bridge-burning journey to what they assumed was a better, kinder world, patrolled by powerful friends like Oprah and billionaire Tyler Perry – simply fueled by a desire for the praise and admiration they felt was their due?

Yet Meghan and Harry can no longer present themselves to the world as a couple under fire, a self-righteous couple who see themselves as victims of racism and bullying.

The Hollywood Reporter described them as “poor decision makers” who “change their minds often,” adding that Harry was “a very charming person” but “very much a pushover.” Poor fool.

Duchess Difficult and the Enabling Prince? It sounds like something out of a horrible Harry Potter novel, except now there’s no magic spell to make this fresh stench in the California air disappear.