Buckingham Palace Releases Statement Over Claims Meghan Markle Bullied Former Staff Members

On Wednesday, Buckingham Palace released a statement in regards to the allegations that Meghan Markle bullied former staff members. According to Us Weekly, they noted that they are “clearly very concerned” about the claims and went on to detail their own workplace policy. It should be noted that Markle and Prince Harry‘s communications team released their own statement in which they denied the allegations, which were published by The Times.

“We are clearly very concerned about allegations in The Times following claims made by former staff of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex,” their statement read. “Accordingly our HR team will look into the circumstances outlined in the article. 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 learned.” Their statement continued, “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.”

These allegations are based on a report published by The Times on Tuesday. In their report, they alleged that they were approached by royal aides who claimed that one of Markle’s former advisors filed a bullying complaint against the 39-year-old as she and Harry were leaving Kensington Palace. The Times claimed that Jason Knauf subsequently filed a complaint with Prince William’s private secretary and alleged that Markle drove two personal assistants to leave the household. They also claimed that employees were sometimes left in tears and that one aide allegedly told a co-worker that they could not “stop shaking” in advance of a conversation with Markle. As previously mentioned, Markle and Harry’s communications team released a statement to The Times in which they denied all of these allegations.

“Let’s just call this what it is — a calculated smear campaign based on misleading and harmful misinformation,” the statement read. “We are disappointed to see this defamatory portrayal of The Duchess of Sussex given credibility by a media outlet.” A spokesperson for Markle also released a statement to royal correspondent Omid Scobie on Tuesday, which read, “The Duchess is saddened by this latest attack on her character, particularly as someone who has been the target of bullying herself and is deeply committed to supporting those who have experienced pain and trauma.” They added that Markle “is determined to continue her work building compassion around the world and will keep striving to set an example for doing what is right and doing what is good.”