Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have “lost another key advisor” after parting ways with their global press secretary – the latest of at least 12 of their top staff to have left since 2018.
Toya Holness, who has a degree in strategic public relations from the University of Southern California, joined the Sussexes in October 2020 and was promoted in March last year to oversee their public relations on both sides of the Atlantic.
She has previously been described as “Meghan’s shadow” as she was often spotted in the same style of power suits and Hollywood shades.
The former football player was part of a small group who spoke to Harry and Meghan on a daily basis but are said to have split from the couple, the Sunday Times reports.
It follows the departure of Archewell Chief of Staff and Director Catherine St Laurent in March last year – after just over 12 months in that role.
She reportedly “wanted out” after realizing she had “a lot of roles to play for the couple,” insiders claimed.
Harry and Meghan have been dogged by the departure of senior aides since their wedding in May 2018 – including private secretaries, communications staff, a personal security officer and the chief executive of Harry’s sustainable tourism initiative Travalyst.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (pictured in Johannesburg, South Africa, 2019) have lost at least 12 top assistants since their wedding
Toya Holness, who has a degree in strategic public relations from the University of Southern California, has split from the couple
Catherine St. Laurent was poached by the couple from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to be their “chief of staff,” but quit after a little over a year in the role
The top helpers the Sussexes have left since the royal wedding
September 2018: Senior Communications Secretary Katrina McKeever
November 2018: Meghan’s personal assistant Melissa Toubati
January 2019: Female Royal Protection Officer
March 2019: Assistant Private Secretary Amy Pickerell
March 2019: Senior Communications Secretary Jason Knauf and Christian Jones
October 2019: Private Secretary Samantha Cohen
March 2020: Communications Director Sara Latham
June 2020: Natalie Campbell from the Sussex Royal Charity Foundation
March 2021: Prince Harry’s assistant private secretary Heather Wong
March 2021: Chief of Staff and Director of Archewell Catherine St Laurent
May 2022: Global Press Secretary Toya Holness
Senior Communications Secretary Katrina McKeever – a contact for Meghan’s family in the couple’s early months – quietly quit her press office in September 2018.
Two months later, Meghan’s personal assistant Melissa Toubati is said to have resigned after the Duchess left her “in tears with her demands,” it said.
In January 2019, a royal protection officer also quit her job as Meghan’s top bodyguard.
The officer, who was not named for security reasons, had been head of security for Meghan and Harry for less than a year when she left the role.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said at the time: “It is for personal reasons and has absolutely nothing to do with the Duke or Duchess being very disappointed to lose them.”
In March 2019, it was announced that Meghan’s assistant private secretary, Amy Pickerill, would step down from her role following Archie’s birth in May.
Meghan described the loss as “very sad”, with sources insisting the split was amicable as Ms Pickerill moved abroad.
She played a key role during the Duchess’ royal tour of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga, including helping Meghan to safety during a market scare.
That same month, Jason Knauf resigned from his senior position as Communications Secretary for both the Sussexes and the Cambridges to become Chief Executive of The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Christian Jones joined Mr. Knauf’s move.
Katrina McKeever (pictured) quietly left Harry and Meghan’s press office in September 2018
Meghan’s personal assistant Melissa Toubati (left) is said to have handed in her resignation after the Duchess left her “in tears with her demands”. Two months later, a royal protection officer (right) quit her job as Meghan’s top bodyguard
In March 2019, it was announced that Meghan’s assistant private secretary, Amy Pickerill (left), would step down from her role following Archie’s birth in May. Private secretary Samantha Cohen (right) resigned from the high-profile role the following October
Jason Knauf (pictured) resigned his senior position as Communications Secretary for both the Sussexes and the Cambridges to become Chief Executive of The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
Private Secretary Samantha Cohen is pictured alongside Meghan and the Queen at Buckingham Palace in June 2018
The Sussexes’ communications director Sara Latham (pictured) was sacked when the couple decided to leave the UK for California
Natalie Campbell (right) was poached from Kate (second right) and Williams Foundation and instead hired by the Sussexes as ‘Director of Insight and Innovation’.
Heather Wong (pictured) stepped down from her role as managing director of Prince Harry’s Travalyst in March last year
Longtime Royal Assistant and former Queen’s Private Secretary Samantha Cohen left her position in December 2018.
Ms. Cohen resigned and accepted a volunteer position with Cool Earth, an organization dedicated to halting the deforestation of tropical forests.
Diversity activist and social entrepreneur Natalie Campbell, who was appointed to lead the Sussex Royal Charity Foundation in June 2020 after just five months.
Ms Campbell – who was heralded as Harry and Meghan’s big job to run the foundation – left to become chief executive of water company Belu.
The Sussexes’ communications director Sara Latham was fired when the couple decided to leave the UK for California via Canada.
Ms Latham then took on a role as adviser to the Queen’s private office on special projects.
Heather Wong, who worked as the Duke of Sussex’s assistant private secretary at Kensington Palace for three years before Harry and Meghan left the royal family, left her position as managing director of Travalyst in March last year.
Mrs Holness’s departure this week comes as the release date of Harry’s memoir remains a mystery.
The autobiography, which is “tentatively” scheduled for publication later this year, promises to be “a first-hand account of my life that is accurate and entirely truthful.”
It is widely expected to depict his memories of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales and the breakdown of his parents’ marriage.
But last week, publisher Penguin Random House couldn’t give a release date.
However, the delay is likely to be welcomed amid fears that Meghan and Harry’s return to the UK could become the “focus” of the Queen’s platinum jubilee.
Earlier this month, a sensational statement said the couple – like the Duke of York – would not be invited onto the balcony for Trooping the Color, the spectacular start of their long weekend of celebrations.
Then, just 18 minutes later, the defiant Sussexes revealed in a tweet via friend and journalist Omid Scobie that they will still be flying in from California – with Archie, now three, and Lilibet, 11 months – for the 70th birthday events of the monarch on the throne, beginning on June 2nd.
But there were warnings tonight that the couple’s mere presence in the UK threatens to overshadow the celebrations.
However, Scobie also claimed that the couple never wanted to appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony.
He said the couple are nonetheless “very keen” to be a part of the arrangements over the coming months, including the Thanksgiving celebrations at St Paul’s Cathedral.