Meghan Markleis losing her trusted aideAmy Pickerill.
Meghan, 37, and Harry, 34, are still hoping tomove into their new homeatWindsor’s Frogmore Cottagebefore welcoming their child in late April.
After leaving her position as Meghan’s assistant private secretary, Pickerill plans to move abroad, PEOPLE confirms.
“They will stay in touch and Amy will remain as a personal adviser to her in the longer term. They are very close,” a source adds. “It is very amicable.”
Pickerill, who started her career at Kensington Palace as a press spokesperson, has been “instrumental in helping the duchess adjust to her new life in the U.K.,” the source says.
Mark Cuthbert/UK Press/Getty
As Meghan’s first dedicated palace staffer, Pickerill was closely involved in setting up the charity cookbookTogether: Our Community Cookbook— which Meghanhelped create.
She was alongside Meghan at theInternational Women’s Day eventin London on Friday and will join her at the Commonwealth events in London on Monday.
“They have worked together for a while now and are close,” the source adds.
Meghan, 37, and Harry, 34, are still hoping tomove into their new homeatWindsor’s Frogmore Cottagebefore welcoming their first child together in late April.
Meghan Markle, Prince Harry and Amy Pickerill.Press Association via AP Images
News of Pickerill’s departure comes about three months after PEOPLE learned that Meghan and Harry were also losing trusted aideSamantha Cohen.
Cohen, who became the couple’s private secretary/chief of staff last summer, is set toleave the positiononce a replacement is found.
Australia-born Cohen, a mom of three, wasQueen Elizabeth’s assistant private secretary and a former press spokeswoman for the monarch.
Her knowledge of the Commonwealth was key in helping advise the couple in their duties in that area on behalf of the Queen. (Harry has been appointed the Youth Ambassador to the family of 53 nations loosely linked to the U.K.) Cohen alsohelped shepherd the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s tour Down Underin October.
Even before the pair’sroyal wedding last May, Cohen had already been helping Meghan with protocol at events like April’s Commonwealth meeting to “deftly” manage her new situation in the royal world, an insider previously told PEOPLE.
Cohen was also tasked with helping to establish a path forward for the formerSuitsstar, who “needs to carve out a role that she is happy with or she will go crazy,” said the insider.
With senior appointees often taking a long time to get into their new post, Cohen could still be in the position until late 2019.
source: people.com
