Palace to investigate Meghan bullying claims
We knew there had been a tantrum over a tiara and tears during a bridesmaid’s dress fitting. But the fierce denial issued by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in the face of allegations of bullying suggests talk of “tensions” between the royal brothers was the tip of the iceberg.
The battle for the truth appeared to descend into war last night as Harry and Meghan accused palace aides of a “smear campaign” – a claim described as “disingenuous” by royal insiders.
With the practicalities of Megxit settled last month, it had been hoped both sides could focus on burying their differences. Yet the announcement of the couple’s Oprah Winfrey interview appears to have opened a Pandora’s box that is unlikely to be closed soon.
The suggestion that Meghan, 39, drove two personal assistants out of the royal household and undermined the confidence of a third employee will not sit comfortably with her depiction of life in the Royal family as “almost unsurvivable”. For while she complains of having been “silenced”, so too, seemingly, were the women who made the allegations to the couple’s then communications secretary, Jason Knauf, who submitted their bullying complaints in October 2018.
When told people needed to be treated with some understanding, even when they were not performing to their standards, Meghan is alleged to have replied: “It’s not my job to coddle people” – a statement that appears to heavily contradict the Sussexes’ “compassion and kindness” agenda.
It is significant that such claims have surfaced not only out of concern for the accuracy of the couple’s narrative, but also amid suggestions the Palace could have handled the matter better.
Sources reportedly expressed concern that nothing was done at the time to investigate the situation. One is quoted as saying: “The institution just protected Meghan constantly.”
The signs that something was amiss at Kensington Palace were plain after Harry and Meghan married at Windsor Castle in May 2018. The Cambridges chose to accelerate the proposed split between the households and the Sussexes felt very put out when their request to establish their own “court” was rejected by the Queen and Prince Charles. Fearing Harry and Meghan were increasingly “operating in a silo”, it was felt that they would benefit from a degree of oversight. This, in turn, deepened the tensions between the brothers, with the Sussexes resenting the fact that the Cambridges were able to operate independently.
The acrimony between the so-called heir and the spare was exacerbated by alleged conflicts between the Sussexes and the staff they jointly shared with William and Kate. According to one insider: “The staffing problems left Harry, particularly, in a very difficult position. There was a sense that he was caught in a conflict between longstanding employees and his new wife’s way of doing things.”
It was around the time of the alleged bullying complaint that reports started emerging of a “culture clash” between Meghan and the palace old guard. As The Daily Telegraph reported in Nov 2018, Kate was left in tears following a bridesmaid’s dress fitting with Princess Charlotte. Around that time, Meghan was said to have also “upset” the Queen by asking to wear an emerald tiara instead of the one offered.
A book by journalist Robert Jobson described Harry as “petulant and short-tempered” in the build-up to the wedding, allegedly telling an aide: “What Meghan wants, Meghan gets”. When reports reached the Queen, she “put him firmly in his place”, he wrote.
It followed stories about the former Suits star “bombarding” palace staff with 5am emails and a tale about her having demanded air fresheners to be deployed in St George’s Chapel.
While aides insist they “bent over backwards” to accommodate Harry and Meghan’s desire to do things “their own way”, the attitude “below stairs” was not always universally positive, with some giving the relationship “five years”. A source said at the time: “Some of the staff don’t seem to want to give Meghan a chance. Harry is besotted and understandably extremely protective of her.”
As one well-placed insider put it last night: “The couple appeared to quickly go from insisting they wanted to work with the monarchy in their engagement interview to being convinced it was working against them. They adopted an ‘us against the world’ mentality.”
Earlier this week, an aide suggested the Palace had “more important things to worry about” than the Sussexes’ two-hour tell-all, due to air on Sunday in the US. Now it seems they are faced with a story neither side can ignore.