Harry and Meghan close Buckingham Palace office and cut staff

Harry and Meghan are due to officially start their new life outside royal duties in the spring of this year.

It is understood that while details of the office closure are still being finalised, and despite efforts to redeploy people to other jobs, there will be redundancies.

The job losses could number 15 and staff were notified last month, the Daily Mail reported.

The Sussexes are living in Canada with their baby son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor as they prepare to drop their HRH styles and quit the monarchy in favour of financial freedom.

They had initially hoped for a dual role, supporting the Queen, the Commonwealth and Harry’s military associations, but the idea was deemed unworkable.

Staff affected are reported to include Marnie Gaffney, who was made a member of the Royal Victoria Order in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours in her role as assistant communications secretary.

Others named by the Daily Mail are Sara Latham, a former senior adviser on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 US presidential campaign, and Julie Burley, who had worked as a senior communications officer with Harry before he was married.

Both Ms Gaffney and Ms Burley were part of the team who took part in the couple’s Africa tour last autumn and have spent a number of years serving the royal family in the press office.

Ms Latham was appointed to the role of head of communications when Harry and Meghan’s household split from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge last year and handled media queries.