The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are transforming their court and focusing on Commonwealth and global issues. This requires a global team that understands the world as it is and the world as it should be; a team that can embrace the change in vision with the Duchess of Sussex on board.
Duchess Meghan is an American with that go-getter attitude. She believes in being on her ‘A game’ and in the work ethic of excellence without excuse. The then Meghan Markle served as an advocate for UN Women, a United Nations entity working for the empowerment of women through political participation and leadership. She was featured in the first Public Service Announcement promoting women in leadership.
In 2015 she delivered a speech at the UN Women Conference to a full audience with the UN Secretary General present and received a standing ovation. During her time with the UN she worked with the best in class organizations such as the World Bank and World Vision. For those who may not know, The United Nations is on a much higher level than the British monarchy in terms of magnitude of impact.
The Sussex strategy to promote the Commonwealth in their capacity as Commonwealth Youth Ambassadors requires them to identify and acquire talent well versed in delivering results on a global level. The entrance of the Sussexes onto social media via Instagram was groundbreaking. Sussex Royal was a game changer in that it allowed the Duke and Duchess to define their causes and communicate with their followers; bypassing the noise of the tabloid media. To signify the power of communication in the Sussex world, their first new hire was Ms. Sara Latham as Chief of Staff.
In royal circles, the Chief of Staff is equivalent to Private Secretary. Ms. Latham has an extensive network of political and business contacts not just in Britain, but also in the most powerful nation on earth, the United Stated of America, where Duchess Meghan was born. The stakes are very high. Sara is what is called the triple threat in an economical and political world. She is media savvy with economic and political relational capital on both sides of the pond.
She has served as a political appointee in both the UK and US governments; and as government affairs advisor at Microsoft Europe in the UK. She also served as managing partner for Freuds, a communication and PR firm, where she focused on the “radical simplification of structure” and was in charge of some of the company’s biggest clients such as Bank of America, The Rise Fund, and Donone. What these economic global brands have in common is a global footprint and the ability to deliver results which are assets to the Sussex Royal work and brand.
Sara Latham was instrumental in launching the Instagram strategy that sealed the Sussex Royal as bona fide Internet influencers. Time Magazine named the Duke and Duchess of Sussex among the 25 Most Influential People on the Internet in 2019. Guinness World Records reports that the Sussex Royal Instagram account broke a record by reaching one million followers in less than six hours, thereby sealing their place as power brokers on the global space. Since then British tabloids have launched an attack on Ms. Latham. However, because she has quantifiable and verifiable results, the brand Sussex Royal is a force to be reckoned with. Currently Sussex Royal has 9.+ million followers. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been on Instagram for a number of years and also have 9.+ million followers.
Also joining the team is Ms. Natalie Campbell. Ms. Campbell served as Director of Insight and Innovation at The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. She was instrumental in promoting the Together Cookbook project which has transformed the London community, and has proven that she has that Sussex-drive to deliver results. The following are the results of the Hubb Community Kitchen project ‘Together’ Cookbook:
- Together Cookbook sold 130,000 copies to make £557,638 for Grenfell Hubb community kitchen
- Hubb Community Kitchen prepares 300 meals per day, 109,500 per year for residents of homeless shelters and senior citizens.
- £204,031 was invested in refurbishing the kitchen.
- £28,520 was reinvested in empowering the women through training, gaining 23 certifications, and social enterprise training.
Natalie Campbell is a social entrepreneur and co-founder of A Very Good Company, an organisation committed to helping big businesses deliver meaningful social impact. She holds a non-executive position at UnLtd, The Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs and Big Lottery Fund. Prior to founding A Very Good Company, Natalie led on the development and launch of Virgin Media Pioneers, a million-pound partnership between Enterprise UK and Virgin Media to set up an online video-sharing platform for young entrepreneurs. Like Sara Latham, Natalie is business savvy with vast experience in social enterprise space and will be instrumental in delivering economic results to Sussex Royal initiatives.
Both Natalie and Sara reflect the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s action-oriented approach to implementing initiatives and delivering results. They both understand and have experience in managing entrepreneurial initiatives which are a Sussex staple at Sentebale, Smart Works, and Hubb Community Kitchen initiatives. They draw their own box when it comes to problem solving and using innovative ideas to support community initiatives. Both women are an asset to Sussex Royal and are guaranteed to deliver results.
In closing, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are ambassadors to the 53 Commonwealth nations. Their work is not just about England. Unfortunately, the UK media response to their entrance on the global platform is a reflection of the small-mindedness that’s come to characterize present day UK.
