Palace staff members sticking to claims they were bullied by Meghan Markle
Written by on January 12, 2023
Those bullying charges against Meghan Markle aren’t going anywhere.
Valentine Low, author of “Courtiers: Intrigue, Ambition, and the Power Players Behind the House of Windsor,” tells Page Six exclusively that the palace aides who quit, claiming they were bullied by the “Suits” alum, are sticking to their guns.
“The people I spoke to are absolutely still sticking to their story, claiming that Meghan bullied them,” he says.
“I can’t speak to the truth of that, of course, because I wasn’t in the room and I haven’t heard Meghan’s side,” he continues. “But my sources still very much stick to their story.”
Days before Markle and Prince Harry’s explosive 2021 sit-down with Oprah Winfrey, the Times of London alleged that the Duchess of Sussex occasionally reduced staff members to tears while she lived at Kensington Palace.
Two senior members of the palace staff were allegedly bullied into leaving their jobs, the UK newspaper reported.
The couple’s communications assistant at the time, Jason Knauf, reported the behavior back in October 2018.
“I am very concerned that the Duchess was able to bully two PAs out of the household in the past year. The treatment of X* was totally unacceptable,” the HR complaint read.
“The Duchess seems intent on always having someone in her sights,” Knauf reportedly continued. “She is bullying Y and seeking to undermine her confidence. We have had report after report from people who have witnessed unacceptable behavior towards Y.”
He added, “I remain concerned that nothing will be done.”
The Palace later announced it would be launching an investigation, but the findings would not be released.
Low further claims to Page Six that Knaupf wrote the email to his boss, Simon Case, dubbing it a “very significant” move.
“They don’t want to pick another fight with Harry and Meghan, it’s quite obvious,” Low theorizes. “[The Palace] got a lot of criticism from us, the media, for not releasing it.”
The royal couple, who resigned as senior working members of the royal family in January 2020, has vehemently denied the charges.
In fact, Prince Harry revealed in his newly released memoir, “Spare” that Markle was an exemplary boss who “checked on staff who were ill, sent baskets of food or flowers or goodies to anyone struggling, depressed, off sick.”
She also “bought pizza and biscuits, hosted tea parties and ice-cream socials” for staff members.
Surprisingly, Low doesn’t think it’s “terrible” that the couple is no longer working royals.
“This was like a divorce,” he explains. “There are acrimonious divorces and there are amicable divorces. This was horribly acrimonious, but it didn’t have to be like that.
“Part of the fault is Harry and Meghan. I think they behave like teenagers, I think they’re blinkered, they’re stubborn. They didn’t engage well with the royal family. Also, I think, the royal household, in general, is an institution that didn’t handle it well, because they didn’t see it coming.”
“It could have been done so much more amicably. It didn’t have to be like this,” he added.
