A source mentioned, "Ashley's been putting feelers out for doing some freelance work on her own. It hasn't worked out with Harry and Meghan. She's really good and highly rated by their team, but the clients don't always listen to her advice." According to the Times, in the aftermath of announcing their withdrawal from Royal duties in January 2020, Harry and Meghan had stated that they would no longer engage with the British tabloid media.
Any email sent on behalf of the couple to editors in April 2020 had emphasized that there would be no cooperation or engagement from the couple and the media team. However, with Hansen as their Communications chief, that stance shifted towards a more collaborative approach with some publications.
During the Sussexes' attendance at this year's Invictus Games in Dorf in September, tabloid journalists were included in a media WhatsApp group with their communications team. They were regularly briefed on the couple's activities, Meghan's outfits, and the fact that she did her own hair and makeup.
Ashley Hansen played a crucial role since she replaced the former head of communications, Toy Holess, in May 2022. The American-Iranian native helped Harry and Meghan navigate several PR challenges over the year, including dealing with the fallout from the Netflix documentary, Harry's memoir, and advising them during Queen Elizabeth's funeral.
Before Holess, the head of communications was Christine Shermer, the former media chief at Pinterest, who held the role at Archewell for 9 months from October 2020 until July 2021 before becoming a senior advisor to the couple. Earlier this year, Ben Browning, an Oscar-nominated British producer and former head of internal content at Archewell Productions, the film and audio division of the foundation, also left his position.
Farah Taylor, who led Archewell's marketing team, also departed. In December 2022, shortly after the release of the first trailer for Harry and Meghan's Netflix series, Mandana Diani, an Iranian-born activist and entrepreneur, resigned from her role as president of Archewell after less than 18 months. Hansen clarified that Diani's transition was mutually planned with the intention for the Sussexes to take full leadership of their company.
Additionally, Rebecca Senes, who had been the head of audio at Archewell, left her position. Senes had joined in July 2021 and collaborated with Meghan on the 12-episode Archetypes podcast series released last year as part of the couple's multi-million-pound deal with Spotify. Unfortunately, the series wasn't renewed, and in June, it was announced that the Sussexes and Spotify had mutually agreed to part ways, prematurely ending the deal.
In April 2020, Harry and Meghan had selected Catherine St Laurent, a Canadian-born mother of two, to serve as their chief of staff and executive director at Archewell. Katherine, who previously held the position of communications chief for Melinda Gates at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, concluded her tenure the following March. However, after the publicity generated by the Netflix documentary and the publication of Harry's memoir, the Sussexes have faced several PR challenges this year.
