Meghan Markle loses third key royal aide in months as personal secretary announces she's quit
Meghan Markle might be getting a baby soon, but she's surely losing out on her royal aides quickly. The Duchess of Sussex has reportedly lost her third and final royal aide in just three months after her last assistant quit. Meghan's right-hand woman, Amy Pickerill, who was appointed as her secretary last year is set to leave her position.
As per the Daily Mail, Pickerill is all set to step down from her post after Meghan and Harry move to Frogmore Cottage in Windsor later this month. The reason for her leaving the prestigious royal post is because she is planning to move overseas.
A source told the publication: “It’s very sad for her colleagues, as she is a really popular member of staff. She has agreed to stay on to help them with the birth of the baby and organize their new household, but will then move on.” Friends of Pickerill have further insisted that the departure is on good terms.
News of Pickerill's leaving comes exactly three months after the pregnant Duchess' top aide Samantha Cohen put down her papers amid rumors of Meghan being a hard taskmaster with the royal staff. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's interim private secretary wished to not make her job permanent.
At the time, she further "let it be known that she intends to leave after Meghan's baby is born", which is just in a few weeks' time. It was also reported at the time, that Cohen will start helping the couple find a suitable replacement for her from the beginning of the new year.
Fifty-year-old Cohen, who is from Australia, has worked for the royal family for 17 years and was Queen Elizabeth II's assistant private secretary. She had announced her resignation from that post last summer, but later, she accepted a temporary job working for Meghan and Harry.
"Sam will be a huge loss," a source close to the pregnant Duchess said. "Going forward, Meghan might need someone cut from a slightly different cloth to traditional courtiers, who is not a career civil servant or royal insider."
It was previously reported that Meghan's personal assistant, Melissa Touabti, quit her job just six months into the role. Though a Kensington Palace spokesman declined to comment, a palace source, unusually authorized to speak on the matter, said the royal's aide “was a hugely talented person” who “played a pivotal role in the success of the royal wedding” on May 19.
