An official inquiry into allegations that Meghan Markle bullied staff while she was a working royal “will never be published” as Buckingham Palace “has buried” it, according to The Sunday Times.
Findings from the probe, paid for privately by the Queen and launched in March 2021 by an independent law firm, will be kept under wraps, according to cited sources. They added it was being done to limit tensions between the Sussexes and Buckingham Palace. Furthermore, according to insiders, the inquiry should “not be played out in public” to ensure those who participated in it felt “comfortable”.
Buckingham Palace launched the sensitive inquiry after the communications secretary for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at the time, Jason Knauf, made complaints against Meghan Markle back in October 2018.
The original complaint by Knauf accused the former Suits actress of prompting two personal assistants to quit while she “undermined the confidence” of a third. Markle was said to have forced staff to break down in tears and feel “traumatised” with her behavior. One cited aide claimed it felt “more like emotional cruelty and manipulation, which I guess could also be called bullying”.
“I am very concerned that the duchess was able to bully two PAs out of the household in the past year,” wrote Knauf in a formal complaint via email to Simon Case, then Prince William’s private secretary, according to UK media outlets.
He described Markle’s behaviour as “totally unacceptable”, adding that “the duchess seems intent on always having someone in her sights [and] I remain concerned that nothing will be done”. He also questioned “whether the household policy on bullying and harassment applies to principals”.
The Duchess of Sussex, 40, vehemently denied the allegations, first reported in The Times in March 2021.
Her lawyers dismissed the claims as a “calculated smear campaign” ahead of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s scheduled tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey the same month. Markle’s legal team added that the media was “being used by Buckingham Palace to peddle a wholly false narrative” about her.
In response to the claims, a Buckingham Palace spokesman had stated:
“Members of staff involved at the time, including those who have left the household, will be invited to participate to see if lessons can be learnt. The royal household has had a dignity at work policy in place for a number of years and does not and will not tolerate bullying or harassment in the workplace.”
Besides Knauf, a handful of the Sussexes’ former staff participated in the probe, which is believed to have recently concluded. Some participants are now described as being profoundly disappointed that the report is being “buried”.
The investigation has led to Buckingham Palace “improving the policies and procedures” in its HR department, royal sources were cited as saying.
The changes to HR policies are expected to be published in the annual Sovereign Grant report later this month, revealed The Sunday Times. But it added that Buckingham Palace has no intention of making any public statement on the inquiry or publicly acknowledging the subsequent tweaks to its HR policies.