Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's team called themselves the 'Sussex Survivors' Club,' according to a new book

• Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's former staff called themselves the "Sussex Survivors' Club," a new book claims.
• The Times of London recently published an excerpt from Valentine Low's book, "Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown."
• Low also wrote that sources told him the team labeled Meghan a "narcissistic sociopath."

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's former staff members referred to themselves as the "Sussex Survivors' Club" due to difficult work relationships with the couple, according to a new book.

The Times of London published the claim in an excerpt from "Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown" by royals reporter Valentine Low. Sources also told Low that staff members labeled Meghan a "narcissistic sociopath" and repeatedly said they felt like they "were played."

The book alleges that Harry and Meghan's plans to exit royal life were laid out by November 2019 — two months before they announced their step back — and kept "amid the greatest secrecy." Meghan reportedly told one staff member that she and the prince would be leaving, but sources who spoke to Low said the rest of the team didn't find out until a meeting at Buckingham Palace in January 2020.

Low wrote that the team "found it hard to accept they were being dumped just like that" and that "some of them were in tears."

Representatives for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

During an event in Fiji in 2018, Low writes that the Kensington Palace press office went into a "panic" after Meghan left a 15-minute meeting for a project to help women after only eight minutes.

Sources originally claimed that the duchess exited because of security fears and crowd management issues. In the book, Low wrote he was told two years later that Meghan departed because of issues with UN Women, another group in attendance at the event.

"At one point the duchess, with a fixed smile, can be seen whispering to a member of staff, who grimaces. Meghan told an aide: 'I can't believe I've been put in this situation.' Moments later, she was ushered out," the author writes, noting that the same staff member was reportedly later seen crying in a car.

 

 

In a different excerpt published Friday, Low wrote that Meghan was overheard complaining about the tour, which took them through Australia, Fiji, Tonga, and New Zealand over 16 days, adding that Meghan couldn't believe she wasn't getting paid to be there.