Former Archwell COO Mandana Dayani is opening up about her fondest memories of working with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.
“Part of the profound injustice of having to speak publicly on this in light of these endless and damaging narratives is that so much of the kindness, mentorship, and support that Prince Harry and Meghan share with others happens quietly behind closed doors,” Dayani, who served as the president of Archewell for 18 months in 2021 and 2022, shares in the latest Us Weekly cover story.
She continues, “I’ll never forget sitting on the floor in their kitchen while Meghan was feeding Princess Lily and cold-calling a dozen senators — their reactions were unbelievable — to ask them to advocate for paid leave.” (Harry, 40, and Meghan, 43, share son Archie, 5, and daughter Lilibet, 3.)
Dayani and Meghan traveled to Uvalde, Texas, after the tragic 2022 school shooting. “For hours, [Meghan] sat in a room with grieving families, going one-by-one to each person — hugging them and crying with them,” she recalls, noting that Meghan has since kept in touch with the families affected by the tragedy.
She describes Harry and Meghan as selfless humanitarians. “Throughout every global crisis, their first question was always: ‘How can we help?’ Whether they were veterans, women, refugees, animals in harm, they both showed up. Never asking for anything in return,” she says. “They picked up the phone, they got on airplanes, they asked questions, they did the work.”
While working with the Sussexes, she grew close to them personally. “Some of my favorite memories were during our weekly meetings in their Montecito home, where Meghan always served the most incredible lunches, snacks and her latest beautiful concoction.” Dayani also recalls how they put her at ease when she attended her first royal gala. “I walked into their room [and found] Meghan finishing her own makeup and steaming her jumpsuit. We all toasted with a sip of champagne while Meghan danced to her favorite oldies playlist.”
She says she was “in awe” of Harry’s humility. “My dad’s mother [was] a Kurdish mother of seven from a small village who never learned to read, drive, or speak English, and his dad’s mother [was] the Queen of England — [I remember] realizing that I never once felt unequal or less than.”
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They all remain close. “Just last week, as Meghan and I were planning our next lunch, I told her how excited I was to pick her brain on my latest ventures,” she says. “These are kind, decent, caring people who I am very proud to call my friends.”
For more on Meghan, watch the exclusive video above and pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly — on newsstands now.