Royal family loses yet another top staff member as Kate Middleton's private secretary resigns

Jennifer Kline
Updated ·2 min read

The royal family is losing yet another top staffer as rumors of internal family turmoil continue to mount.

The Duchess of Cambridge's personal secretary, Catherine Quinn, has decided to leave her post after two years on the job, according to the Daily Mail. The role is essentially comparable to being a chief of staff for the future queen: Her responsibilities included "everything from organizing Kate's [schedule] to accompanying her on engagements."

Quinn, a graduate of the University of Oxford, is reportedly leaving of her own accord, which the Daily Mail calls an "unusual" decision: The highly-coveted (and highly-paid) position "is considered a plum one, and private secretaries can often stay in the role for a decade or more."

The news comes just shy of a year since Meghan Markle lost her own personal secretary, Samantha Cohen, who confirmed she'd be leaving her post in December 2018. (That announcement was made weeks after Meghan's personal assistant, Melissa Touabti, resigned.)

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Quinn was heavily involved in the Duchess' philanthropy agenda, and she plans to increase her involvement in charitable work upon leaving her job after Christmas.

The personnel change marks the latest in a string of shake-ups behind royal walls.

In October, news emerged that one of Kate's longtime staffers was allegedly a casualty of fractures within the family. The royal aide, Sophie Agnew, had worked for the Duchess of Cambridge for seven years before suddenly getting laid off — allegedly as a direct result of the growing separation between the Cambridges and the Sussexes.

"Her role has been made redundant as a results of the split of the two households," a senior-level source confirmed to the Daily Mail, adding, "She will not be replaced."

Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has also seen several employees disappear in the year and a half since she joined the royal family. Back in March, her assistant private secretary, Amy Pickerill, left her post, becoming the fourth of Meghan's staffers to call it quits. Her staff situation has seemingly stabilized since she gave birth earlier this year.