Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have confirmed that staff cuts are coming at their charity, now known as Archewell Philanthropies, amid its restructure.
Meghan and Harry responded on Monday to reports in The Daily Mail that job cuts at the organization, formerly known as the Archewell Foundation, were being made “because the charity was closing.
“The move toward a fiscal sponsor operating model does mean that some staff redundancies are inevitable, particularly with junior admin roles,” the spokesperson told People. “We will not be discussing these personnel details further, other than to say that we are honored to have worked with incredibly talented and caring people who dedicate themselves to helping others,” the spokesperson added.
The Independent has contacted representatives for Harry and Meghan for comment.
Last week, Harry and Meghan — who share a six-year-old son, Archie, and four-year-old daughter, Lilibet — announced that after five years, the Archwell Foundation was becoming Archewell Philanthropies.
According to the organization’s website, the name change “allows the [Harry and Meghan] and their children to expand upon their global philanthropic endeavors as a family.”
“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,” a spokesperson for the couple added in a statement at the time.
Archewell Foundation has previously donated to various causes. The charity donated $500,000 to projects supporting injured children from Gaza and Ukraine, with the money being used to help the World Health Organisation with medical evacuations, and also to fund work developing prosthetics for youngsters seriously hurt in the conflicts.
The donations included $200,000 for the WHO to support medical evacuations from Gaza to Jordan, $150,000 the Save the Children charity to provide ongoing humanitarian support in Gaza, and $150,000 for the Centre of Blast Injury Studies to help its efforts to develop prostheses for injured children, particularly those children injured from the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.
In May 2024, the charity was listed as “delinquent” and a delinquency notice letter was sent to the foundation for “failing to submit required annual report(s) and/or renewal fees”, but the status of Archewell Foundation had been changed to “current” days later.
The letter had warned that an organisation listed as delinquent is banned from “soliciting or disbursing charitable funds” and “its registration may be suspended or revoked by the registry.” A statement from California’s Department of Justice later said the Archewell Foundation is “current and in good standing.”
