Ashley Hansen, the Global Press Secretary for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, has decided to step down from her position after more than a year of service.

According to a report that has since been deleted from the Sunday Times, the source revealed the reasons behind Ashley’s departure from the couple’s core team.

It seems that Ashley had been exploring freelance opportunities on her own, but her collaboration with the Sussexes did not yield the expected results.

Despite being highly regarded within the team, tensions arose as clients occasionally disregarded her advice.

A source stated, “Ashley’s been putting the feelers out for doing some freelance work on her own.

It hasn’t worked out with Harry and Meghan.

She’s really good and highly rated by the team.

It’s just the clients don’t always listen to the advice.”

According to the Times, after announcing their withdrawal from royal duties in January 2020, the couple declared that they would no longer engage with the British tabloid media.

In April 2020, an email sent on behalf of Harry and Meghan to editors emphasized that there would be no collaboration or engagement with the couple and their media team, and they would no longer respond to journalists’ inquiries.

However, with Hansen as their communications chief, their stance shifted towards a more collaborative approach with certain publications.

During the Sussexes’ attendance at this year’s Invictus Games in Dusseldorf in September, tabloid journalists were included in a media WhatsApp group with their communications team.

They were regularly briefed on the couple’s activities, Meghan’s outfits, and even details such as her doing her own hair and makeup while in Germany.

Hansen played a crucial role as she took over from the former head of communications, Toyah Holness, in May 2022.

The American-Iranian native helped Harry and Meghan navigate through various PR crises over the year, including managing the aftermath of the Netflix docuseries “Harry’s Memoir” and providing advice during Queen Elizabeth’s funeral.

Prior to Holness, Christine Shermer, the former media chief at Pinterest, served as the head of communications for nine months from October 2020 to July 2021 before becoming a senior advisor to the couple.

Earlier this year, Ben Browning, an Oscar-nominated British producer and former head of internal content at Archival Productions, also left his position.

Farrah Taylor, who led Archival’s marketing team, departed as well.

In January, Hansen acknowledged the significant impact that both Browning and Taylor had on the cultural landscape, exceeding expectations.

However, in December 2022, shortly after the release of the first trailer for Harry and Meghan’s Netflix series, their top aide Mandana Dayani, an Iranian-born activist and entrepreneur, resigned from her role as president of Archival after less than 18 months.

Hansen clarified that Dayani’s transition was mutually planned to allow the Sussexes to take full leadership of their company.

Additionally, Rebecca Sinanez, who had been the head of audio at Archival, also left her position.

Sinanez joined in July 2021 and collaborated with Meghan on the 12-episode podcast series “Archetypes,” which was released last year as part of the couple’s multi-million pound deal with Spotify.

Unfortunately, the series was not renewed, and in June, it was announced that the Sussexes and Spotify had mutually agreed to end their partnership prematurely.

In April 2020, Harry and Meghan appointed Catherine St-Laurent, a Canadian-born mother of two, as their chief of staff and executive director at Archival.

Catherine, who previously held the position of communications chief for Melinda Gates at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, concluded her tenure the following March.