**Embattled Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Respond to Scrooge Claims Amid Staff Firings**
*Published: December 22, 2025, 7:35 p.m. ET*
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have gone on the offensive after being labeled “scrooges” for allegedly firing several employees just before Christmas, RadarOnline.com reveals. The couple recently folded their former charitable Archewell Foundation into a new entity, Archewell Philanthropies, resulting in staff “redundancies.” However, they maintain that their core team remains intact.
### Staff Redundancies Are Inevitable
The Archewell Foundation’s 2024 donations totaled only $2.1 million, while the couple incurred $5.1 million in expenses and donations, operating at a significant loss. Following the rebranding to Archewell Philanthropies, their spokesperson stated, “Currently, the same full team remains in place.”
Nevertheless, the representative acknowledged that “some staff redundancies are inevitable, particularly with junior admin roles.” According to reports, three members of the Archewell Philanthropies team—more than half the workforce—were let go during the rebrand, including Kristin Slevin, the charity’s director of programs and operations, who earned $146,000 annually.
### New Beginning for Archewell
On December 19, Harry, 41, and Markle, 44, announced their foundation’s rebranding. “After five beautiful years, the Archewell Foundation is becoming Archewell Philanthropies,” they shared.
The couple prominently used their royal titles to promote their “next chapter,” which will also involve their son Archie, 6, and daughter Lilibet, 4. An impact statement explained:
> “This next chapter allows Prince Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, to broaden their global philanthropic efforts as a family, with meaningful reach and maximum impact, grounded in the same values, partnerships, and their commitment to show up and do good.”
### Archewell Foundation’s Financial Woes
Launched in April 2020 after the couple stepped down from royal duties and relocated to Southern California to pursue “financial independence,” the Archewell Foundation has faced ongoing reports of financial mismanagement.
The foundation raised a remarkable $13 million in donations in 2021 but reported just over $2 million in 2022. Benefactor Fidelity Charitable disclosed a $6 million contribution to Archewell, while TisBest Philanthropy reported awarding $10,050 during the 2022–2023 fiscal year. However, Archewell claimed it received only two $1 million grants from anonymous donors during that period, according to RadarOnline.
In 2023, the foundation reported $5.7 million in revenue, with nearly all but $700,000 coming from a single anonymous benefactor. After covering expenses and staff salaries, only $1 million went to charities, including a $155,000 donation to consultant Beth Herlihy, who previously served as Markle’s assistant private secretary.
### Business Failures Piling Up
Archewell’s hefty 2024 expenses may have included Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s quasi-royal tours to Nigeria and Colombia. During these trips, Markle sported multiple outfit changes and an expensive designer wardrobe while meeting national leaders, touring schools, and attending dinners held in their honor.
In 2025, the couple did not embark on extended abroad visits but focused on trying to save their struggling business ventures at home. Netflix downgraded their exclusive five-year deal to a first-look arrangement for productions by August.
Markle and Harry’s projects on the streamer performed poorly. Markle’s lifestyle series *With Love, Meghan* bombed despite two seasons, and Harry’s *Polo* docuseries garnered fewer than 500,000 views in the first half of 2025.
Meanwhile, Markle’s As Ever product line—which includes fruit spreads, honey, teas, and wine—also struggled to attract customers. Data from the brand intelligence platform Similarweb showed Asever.com received 196,831 monthly visits in October, far fewer than Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop.com, which tallied 812,462.
An industry insider commented on Markle’s challenges, saying, “She is still viewing the figures as her ultimate mortification as she idolizes Paltrow and her success so much.”
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*Stay tuned for more updates on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s philanthropic and business endeavors.*
https://radaronline.com/p/prince-harry-meghan-markle-inevitable-staffing-cuts-archewell/