Buckingham Palace Confirms it Has Reviewed The Handling of Bullying Allegations Against Meghan Markle
In March 2021, Buckingham Palace announced it would investigate the circumstances surrounding the bullying allegations made against the Duchess of Sussex by her former royal staff. And today, a senior royal aide confirmed that a review has taken place privately by an independent legal firm but said that no findings will be made public and no further comment will be made.
“I know many of you will want to know if our report contains any information into the review of the historic allegations of bullying that we announced in March 2021,” The Keeper of the Privy Purse and treasurer to the Queen, Sir Michael Stevens, told reporters today during the annual royal finances briefing. “There is nothing on this in the report. As we said last year, this work was undertaken privately and had no Sovereign Grant [public] money spent on it. I can confirm, though, that it was a review of the handling of the allegations aimed at enabling the royal households to consider potential improvements to HR policies and procedures. The review has been completed and recommendations on our policies and procedures have been taken forward but we will not be commenting further.”
The announcement came after reports previously described the Palace as having “buried” the investigation, with concerns for the privacy of those who took part and an attempt to limit tensions between the Palace and the Sussexes cited as considerations.
The Palace’s original decision to launch the review came after The Times newspaper published a story containing allegations that Meghan’s behavior drove two personal assistants out of the household and that she faced a bullying complaint made by a close adviser in October 2018. Meghan’s spokesperson immediately described the allegations as an “attack on her character” and said she was “saddened” by them. Her lawyer, Jenny Afia, later told a BBC documentary, “That story is absolutely untrue that she is a bully. That said, she wouldn't want to negate anyone's personal experiences.”
Royal sources were reluctant to be drawn further on the subject yesterday, describing HR matters involving individuals as “private”. “There have been improvements that have been proposed to policies and procedures; those have been implemented,” one said, “And those that participated in the review have been informed that the review has been concluded and contained recommendations.”
Royal aides declined to make it clear whether or not the Duchess of Sussex had participated in the report or been informed of its findings.
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