Who Is Sara Latham? Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Hired the Big-Name Advisor

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published 15 March 2019

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are officially creating a new household in the run-up to their move and royal baby.
There are a number of announcements to come from that news, including that Meghan and Harry have hired Sara Latham, who used to work for Hillary and Bill Clinton.
Meghan just lost several staffers including her top royal aide, Amy Pickerill, in an amicable paring. Go here for that story.

NOW everything's coming into focus: The Queen is officially giving the okay to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry to create their own household, complete with their own dedicated staff. This was expected, especially in the wake of their marriage, new house, and new baby, but now that it's officially going forward, all the royal staff departures recently make more sense. Sadly, this also means the official "breakup" of the Fab Four, at least in terms of their office, which will no longer support all four of them (although they're all so busy, I imagine this is probably for the best).

Here's all the recent news to come out of the official announcement, as well as context for some of the royal staff additions and departures.

Meghan and Harry just hired a famous PR rep.

It's just been announced that Sara Latham, who used to work with Bill and Hillary Clinton, has joined the two royals' household as the new dedicated head of communications.

Per the Daily Mail, she worked with Hillary on her 2016 presidential campaign as a senior advisor and with Tony Blair on his 2005 election campaign. Between 1996-2000, she also worked with Bill Clinton in a deputy assistant and scheduling role. Like Meghan, Latham is a dual American-British citizen.

This might mean the end of the Royal Foundation.

According to royal reporter Emily Andrews, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will probably set up their own charitable foundation; Kate and William might keep the Royal Foundation for the two of them and perhaps their family, or they might create something totally new. Also, there might be changing Twitter handles (the MOST important issue!).

Plus I also think this is the end of the Royal Foundation in its present form. The Sussexes will either leave and set up their own charitable vehicle, leaving it just the RF of the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge, or it will be split in two. I’d say the former more likely.March 14, 2019

And their former rep is working with Kate and William.

Jason Knaupf, who oversaw Meghan and Harry's wedding and has been a part of the Fab Four staff as their PR rep, is now a "senior adviser" for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on their charities. So he's not leaving or been fired, just simply finding a new role in the new official structure.

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There's been a lot of turnover lately.

The Fab Four lost their special advisor Sir David Manning (again, with the news, this makes sense, since he was serving all four of them). Prior to that, Meghan's new personal assistant "Melissa," left after only a few months in the gig, their interim private secretary Samantha Cohen announced her resignation, and then the the Duke and Duchess's chief protection officer left as well.

Meghan just lost her "right-hand woman" Amy Pickerill a few days ago. But since the structure is changing, staff changes also make sense.

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It's an intense job, and people get burned out.

Apparently there's no other explanation needed for all this staff turnover except being in the job for a few years. Royal expert Dickie Arbiter explained to Global News, "I was one of the Queen’s press secretaries with the remit. In addition to answering to her, 90 per cent of my time was [spent] looking after the Prince of Wales and Diana,” said Arbiter, who worked closely with the Queen for 12 years. I’d [been on the] job with them for five years. Any longer and I would’ve been burnt out."

"By outward appearances, it has been a bit of a ‘revolving door,’ [but] it just so happens with the Cambridge and Sussex households [that] employees started around the same time," he added.

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Katherine’s a contributing syndications editor at Marie Claire who covers fashion, culture, and lifestyle. In her role, she writes stories that are syndicated by MSN and other outlets. She’s been a full-time freelancer for over a decade and has had roles with Cosmopolitan (where she covered lifestyle, culture, and fashion SEO content) and Bustle (where she was their movies and culture writer). She has bylines in New York Times, Parents, InStyle, Refinery29, and elsewhere. Her work has also been syndicated by ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, Seventeen, Good Housekeeping, and Women’s Health, among others. In addition to her stories reaching millions of readers, content she's written and edited has qualified for a Bell Ringer Award and received a Communicator Award.

Katherine has a BA in English and art history from the University of Notre Dame and an MA in art business from the Sotheby's Institute of Art (with a focus on marketing/communications). She covers a wide breadth of topics: she's written about how to find the very best petite jeans, how sustainable travel has found its footing on Instagram, and what it's like to be a professional advice-giver in the modern world. Her personal essays have run the gamut from learning to dress as a queer woman to navigating food allergies as a mom. She also has deep knowledge of SEO/EATT, affiliate revenue, commerce, and social media; she regularly edits the work of other writers. She speaks at writing-related events and podcasts about freelancing and journalism, mentors students and other new writers, and consults on coursework. Currently, Katherine lives in Boston with her husband and two kids, and you can follow her on Instagram. If you're wondering about her last name, it’s “I go to dinner,” not “Her huge ego,” but she responds to both.