Buckingham Palace has reportedly completed its investigation into the bullying allegations made by staff against Meghan Markle, although according to a statement made by a senior palace aide, the results will not be made public, which has apparently left Meghan and Prince Harry feeling very “disappointed.”
On March 3rd, 2021, it was announced that palace officials would be launching an official probe (which The Mirror reports was privately funded by the Queen) following an article that was published in The Times just a few days before the infamous Oprah interview aired. According to the article, one of Meghan and Harry’s former top aides made a complaint back in 2018 about allegedly being bullied by the Duchess of Sussex, also adding that two members of staff were driven to leave as a result of the alleged bullying, while Meghan allegedly undermined the confidence of a third member of staff.
The palace instantly released a statement to confirm that it would be investigating all of the allegations, as it takes "bullying" and "harassment" in the workplace very seriously. "We are clearly very concerned about allegations in The Times following claims made by former staff of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex," the statement from Buckingham Palace read back in March 2021.
The statement continued: "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. 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."
Naturally both Harry and Meghan have always denied the bullying accusations, with Meghan's lawyers branding the allegations a "calculated smear campaign." The couple also released a joint statement to say that Meghan was "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." At the time, they also went on to say that Meghan was "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."
Although the Duke and Duchess of Sussex haven’t officially commented on the as yet unknown results of the investigation, a royal insider reportedly told E! News that they are both extremely "disappointed" that the results have not been made public. Could this be because they wanted to clear their names and are now unable to do so? The official reason for the results being kept private aren’t yet known, although The Sunday Times claims it's in order to protect those who took part in the investigation, and also to "limit tensions between the Sussexes and the palace." Does the fact that the palace has tried to bury the results tell us all we need to know?!
