Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have hired a new PR executive who has a complicated history with the royal family due to her previous high-powered role
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have hired a new public relations executive who has a complicated history with the royal family, it has emerged. The Sussexes are said to have hired Emily Robinson as their new Director of Communications, who previously oversaw global publicity for The Crown from seasons three to six.
Season six of the hit Netflix drama programme aired controversial storylines that included Prince Harry wearing Nazi fancy dress, Princess Diana’s Panorama interview, and scenes depicting Diana as a ghost speaking to Queen Elizabeth II. And it seems that due to Ms Robinson’s involvement with the dramatised show, her new employment with the Sussexes has raised eyebrows.
A source told The Mail: “In the circumstances, it’s almost beyond belief that Harry and Meghan would hire someone straight from The Crown.”
Prince Harry has previously expressed support for The Crown, despite its contentious depictions of his family, as he said in a 2021 interview with James Corden: “They don’t pretend to be news. It’s fiction. But it’s loosely based on the truth. Of course, it’s not strictly accurate.”
“It gives you a rough idea about what that lifestyle, what the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else, what can come from that.” He added: “I’m way more comfortable with The Crown than I am seeing the stories written about my family, or my wife, or myself.”
During a 2023 appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Harry spoke candidly about how he feels about the show and its fictionalisation of his family. When asked by the TV host if he had ever watched the programme, Harry candidly said: “Yes, I have actually watched The Crown. The older stuff and the more recent stuff.”
Colbert then asked Harry whether he ‘fact-checked’ the show while watching. The Duke jokingly mimed as though he were taking notes, raising an eyebrow in jest – much to the delight of the audience, who erupted into laughter. He then paused before responding: “Umm… yes I do actually,” which received more fits of giggles..
Speaking to royal author Robert Hardman for his book, The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy, a source said: “The Prince… rolls his eyes when people say that ‘it’s just drama’. Yet he will not give it any greater publicity by complaining. He doesn’t like the idea of being seen as a complainer all the time.”
King Charles is also thought to have stopped watching the series as began to follow his immediate family members, with a source saying the monarch found the series “too close to the bone” to be enjoyable.
Ms Robinson left her role with The Crown in April 2024, several months after the controversial season aired. A source told the Mail: “She was always very charming and supportive to [creator of The Crown] Peter Morgan and all the actors in The Crown. She is one of the breed of publicists who think that the talent can do no wrong.”