After Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were dubbed “disaster tourists” for their visit to Los Angeles County where they surveyed the damage caused by the wildfires and a stop at an evacuation which was believed to be a “photo op,” the Sussexes’ names were right back in the news for all the wrong reasons.

While people were still buzzing about the couple’s true intentions following their trip to LA, out of nowhere came a Vanity Fair cover story that brought out even more critics and some damning allegations.

Meghan’s alleged brutal treatment of people who worked for her took over the headlines as former employees insisted she was “really, really, really awful” as a boss. But it wasn’t just Meghan, Harry wasn’t safe from the criticism either. A source close to the prince says he was “shell-shocked” after learning what was printed about him and what he supposedly would rather Meghan do herself.

Claims made about Prince Harry in cover story

For its February 2025 cover story, Vanity Fair spoke with dozens of the Duchess of Sussex’s former employees who alleged that working with her was “Very painful. Because she’s constantly playing checkers–I’m not even going to say chess–but she’s just very aware of where everybody is on her board. And when you are not in, you are to be thrown to the wolves at any given moment.”

Another former colleague, reportedly part of Meghan’s team when she did her Archetypes Spotify podcast, revealed they had to take a “leave of absence after working on three episodes.” Several others claimed that they too had to take “breaks from work to escape scrutiny,” leave their job altogether, or undergo “long-term therapy”

When it came to Harry, the publication was told that he had an interesting attitude about work in general and would want to know “Well, why should I do this?” or “Why are we doing this?”

“He looks like the kind of guy who would, frankly, happily work for charities for the rest of his life and would be very happy if Meghan made all the money and he didn’t need to.”

Insider says the duke is ‘shell-shocked’ over that allegation

A source close to the duke and duchess spoke to Heat magazine and shared how the Sussexes are feeling about the article.

“This article was horrific in so many ways, and of course Meghan feels completely degraded and betrayed,” the insider said, before adding that “Harry is also shell-shocked — it’s a full-blown assault on both their characters like someone’s taken a sledgehammer to almost every aspect of their lives.

“It can’t be ignored, either. Vanity Fair has so much weight and credibility in high-society circles on both sides of the pond, and the scale of the allegations is incredibly wide-ranging and damaging.”