Prince Harry and Meghan Markle take ‘full command’ of Archewell as Mandana Dayani departs

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will take full responsibility for their Archewell Foundation as the organisation’s chair, Mandana Dayani, steps down after 18 months.

Dayani was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the media and charity group and left in what was described as an amicable and planned transition. She will not be replaced as Archewell founders Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have long intended to take full control of the company.

According to a statement shared with Deadline, an Archewell spokesperson said Dayani was hired while the couple was on maternity leave and that “she continued to[Archewell se]vision and successfully shape the future.” (See full explanation below.)

Dayani is an entrepreneur and attorney who previously worked with fashion guru Rachel Zoe and co-founded the non-partisan organization I Am A Voter. She also started a podcast, The dissenterswith Debra Messing in 2020.

News of her departure from Archewell comes days after the release of the trailer for Netflix’s six-part documentary series Harry and MeganArchewell is producing, Deadline believes the decision was made months ago.

Here is Archewell’s statement: “Mrs. Dayani has been an integral part of Archewell and we are grateful for her passion, commitment and leadership. Ms Dayani was appointed during her maternity leave to promote the company and its projects. She successfully continued to shape her vision and future. Their transition was planned together, with the intention that the Duke and Duchess would now take full control of their company. There will be no replacement for this position and Ms Dayani fully supports the Duke and Duchess in their new leadership roles and they remain friends.

Archewell, whose mission is to “unleash the power of compassion to drive systemic cultural change,” includes the non-profit foundation, Archewell Audio and Archewell Productions.