Meghan Markle and her Hollywood agent Nick Collins have ended their professional relationship, after he has helped the Duchess of Sussex's acting career when she started working on the cable legal drama series Suits nearly a decade ago.
Sources, however, said that the decision to part ways was amicable and that there is no bad blood between the two. The insider insisted that Meghan remains good friends with Collins. In fact, he will still help Meghan as a consultant as she shifts to an in-house team to handle Archewell's deals with Netflix and Spotify in Hollywood.
Archewell's in-house public relations unit will be headed by Christine Schirmer, who used to work as the communications chief on Pinterest. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have also hired the PR team of Sunshine Sachs as part of their publicity arm. The pair also promoted their U.K. spokesperson, James Holt, as the executive director of Archewell.
According to Daily Mail, Collins was instrumental in helping Harry and Meghan transition to California from Vancouver. He was a key person in the couple's exit from their royal roles.
Meghan Markle retained Collins as her agent despite her new work in the royal family and even after quitting her acting job. On paper, the Duchess of Sussex hasn't been doing any TV or movie projects but Collins brought other deals to the table through his agency, Gersh. This included Meghan’s voice-over deal with Disney for a documentary about elephants.
The news comes as Harry has announced gaining two high-profile jobs as a Silicon Valley mental health executive and as a commissioner on a study program that will delve into online misinformation. Sources at Buckingham Palace said that there will be royal courtiers watching Harry "very, very closely" in these new roles.
According to royal expert Russell Myers, there could be issues with the palace if Harry keeps using the Duke of Sussex in the published materials for his new jobs. However, Alexi Robichaux, the CEO of BetterUp in Silicon Valley said that Harry has made it clear to them that he should just be addressed as "Harry."
Meanwhile, Meghan Markle is in the middle of a controversial bullying claim lodged against her by her former staff members in Kensington Palace. An independent law firm was recently hired to look into the allegations that she made two of her staff members cry and undermined the confidence of a third assistant. The Duchess of Sussex said that she would like to see proper documentation of this investigation.
