Palace won’t reveal result of Meghan ‘bully’ probe
AN INVESTIGATION into bullying allegations against the Duchess of Sussex has led to improved policies for royal staff – but Buckingham Palace yesterday refused to say what they are.
The outcome of the independent probe, paid for by the Queen, has also not been revealed.
And it is not clear if even those who accused Meghan of bullying are sure how the changes in HR policies relate to their complaints.
Royal insiders had predicted that dozens would give evidence against Meghan, who always denied the bullying claims. But only a handful did.
Some decided it was too painful and wanted to move on. Others who still work for the Palace feared giving evidence might damage their careers.
When the probe was launched in March 2021, the Palace said any changes recommended would be shared in the annual Sovereign Grant report
‘I’m not going to comment on changes that have been made’
which documents royal accounts for the year. But at yesterday’s briefing on the report, a senior Palace source said there would be not be any public discussion of the lessons learned for reasons of “confidentiality”.
He said: “I’m not going to comment on the changes that have been made to the policies and procedures – I’ll just say that the policies and procedures have been updated.
“Because of the confidentiality of the discussions we have not communicated the detailed recommendations.”
He added they “have been incorporated within policies and procedures wherever appropriate” and “all members of staff, all members of the Royal Family, will be aware” of what they are.
The report did outline the Royal Household’s Concern atWork policy, which encourages staff to raise concerns about the conduct of others.
Meghan, 40, said the claims against her were a smear and, in their OprahWinfrey interview, she and Harry accused a member of the Royal Family of racism.The royals stressed the work they have done to support ethnic minority groups. However, the Royal Household did accept it needed to recruit more staff from ethnic minorities and set a target of 10 per cent by the end of 2022. By March this year the figure at Buckingham Palace had risen to 9.6 per cent from 8.5 per cent.