Claims recently surfaced in a U.S. publication suggesting Meghan Markle is a “dictator in high heels,” that she “doesn’t take advice” and has reduced “grown men to tears,” earning her the nickname “Duchess Difficult.”
Maer Roshan, co-editor-in-chief of The Hollywood Reporter, said he stands by the story after backlash that included one Sussex source saying the claims were “fabricated,” the U.K. Daily Mail reported.
The Hollywood Reporter published a story on Sept. 12 under the headline “Why Hollywood Keeps Quitting on Harry and Meghan.”
The allegations about Markle’s behaviour came out in the piece that focused on the exodus of staff who have worked for the Sussexes, including the couple’s chief of staff Josh Kettler who resigned from his role in August after three months on the job.
Roshan reportedly told Access Hollywood: “Our reporter talked to a very high-up source who works for the couple and said: ‘Everyone is terrified of Meghan.’”
“‘Duchess Difficult’ is a nickname that has trailed Meghan Markle for quite a few years. What is new is that this notion, since coming to America, that a lot of these rumours were manufactured by the palace and the reporting that we did suggests that probably isn’t true and there is still this undercurrent of fear.’”
Friends of Meghan have said they have never seen a “negative side to her,” the U.K. Daily Mail reported.
Roshan told Access Hollywood: “Two things can be possible at once. The couple does help a lot of people. Meghan and Harry declined to comment on our story. I think Meghan would have said that barking around orders is something that we expect from men and it would never raise an eyebrow.”
Meghan touched on the subject in her Archetypes podcast.
“You’re allowed to set a boundary. You’re allowed to be clear, (it) does not make you demanding. It does not make you difficult, it makes you clear,” she said.
Still, The Hollywood Reporter piece last week claimed that Meghan “terrifies” people. The story described the couple as “poor decision-makers” who “change their minds frequently” — with Harry dubbed a “very charming person,” but “very much an enabler.”
The publication reported allegations that Markle was “absolutely relentless” and that “she marches around like a dictator in high heels, fuming and barking orders,” adding: “I’ve watched her reduce grown men to tears.”
Meghan’s “noisy tantrums” and “angry 5 a.m. emails” have also helped earn her the “Duchess Difficult” nickname by members of her staff, The Hollywood Reporter said.
A spokesperson for the Sussexes declined to comment when approached by the Daily Mail.