Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle Are Very Different in This Key Way, According to Royal Staffers
Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle are very different, according to royal staff. Still, they say Meghan is well-liked, in spite of rumors that she's been nicknamed "Duchess Difficult" by staff.

Rumors of a feud between Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle (opens in new tab) just won't die. Like the mythical Hydra, it seems that every the the Duchesses of Cambridge and Sussex (opens in new tab) try to squash a rumor, two grow back in its place. And it's not just rumors of a feud between the duchesses; the women are also compared on a regular basis and pitted against each other in every way imaginable.
One of the rumors that's plagued Meghan (opens in new tab) since she joined the royal family is that she's so difficult to work with that she's caused several members of the staff at Kensington Palace to quit. There were even rumors that she had earned the nickname "Duchess Difficult" among those who work with the royal family.
A source told People (opens in new tab) that “the most difficult job in the royal family is to work with Meghan’s ambitions and make them realizable."
So, is there any truth to the rumors that Meghan is an unrelenting diva (opens in new tab) who drives people to quit their jobs and flee? Unsurprisingly, the answer is a giant "nope." In fact, according to a royal source close to the Sussexes, who spoke with Elle.com (opens in new tab), rumors of Meghan being difficult (opens in new tab) to work with are "absolutely untrue." According to the source, Meghan is actually well-liked by the royal staff and hasn't caused any of them to quit.
According to Elle.com (opens in new tab), per their source, Meghan is, "anxious to learn about royal protocol and takes her new duties very seriously. She's a quick learner, and she’s receptive to the courtiers who have been providing her guidance and helping her adapt to her new life as a member of the royal family."
The truth comes down to another (unfair and unnecessary) comparison between Meghan and Kate (opens in new tab) and between their management styles, which are, by all accounts, very different. But, as a royal source explained, Kate and Meghan are "very different (opens in new tab) people with different styles," which isn't a bad thing.
tl;dr Meghan Markle's (opens in new tab) management style is different than Kate Middleton's (opens in new tab) because they're different humans with different personalities and working styles. Somehow, the rumor mill took that simple fact and turned it into the patently untrue, "Meghan is difficult and makes royal staff quit their jobs and run for the hills!"
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Kayleigh Roberts is a freelance writer and editor with more than 10 years of professional experience. Her byline has appeared in Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, The Atlantic, Allure, Entertainment Weekly, MTV, Bustle, Refinery29, Girls’ Life Magazine, Just Jared, and Tiger Beat, among other publications. She's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
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