In recent days, Meghan’s husband Prince Harry has found himself at the centre of ‘bullying’ claims over his departure from his Sentebale charity.

Amid the latest news, here’s an inside look at the scandal that rocked the royal family and saw Meghan‘s reputation take a major hit…

Meghan Markle accused of ‘bullying’ staff scandal

Back in 2018, just months after her wedding to Prince Harry, palace staff reportedly began to refer to Meghan as “Duchess Difficult”.

The Duchess of Sussex reportedly rubbed staff up the wrong way by sending them ‘direct’ emails at 5am. However, she didn’t expect them to reply outside of working hours, apparently.

In the autumn of 2018, two PAs from the royal household quit. This then led to the Sussexes’ communications secretary, Jason Knauf, raising concerns about Meghan’s behaviour in an email to the palace’s HR team.

“I am very concerned that the duchess was able to bully two PAs out of the household in the past year,” he reportedly wrote, according to an article in The Times in March 2021.

“The treatment of (X) was totally unacceptable. The duchess seems intent on always having someone in her sights. She is bullying (Y) and seeking to undermine her confidence. We have had report after report from people who have witnessed unacceptable behaviour towards (Y).”

Duchess of Sussex ‘bullying’ allegations leak

The ‘bullying’ allegations against Meghan remained a secret. Until 2021, that is, when The Times published its report.

Just before Harry and Meghan’s now infamous Oprah interview, the bullying allegations levelled against Meghan became public.

In response, Buckingham Palace released a statement, insisting it would investigate the ‘concerning’ claims against the royal.

“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,” they then 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.”

Meghan Markle’s reps hit back at staff allegations

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Meghan hit back at the time.

They said that she felt “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”.

The rep added: “She 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.”

Meghan Markle bullying scandal – staff speak out

In the same piece published by The Times, a staff member allegedly spoke out against the duchess.

The former employee claimed that they felt “humiliated” by the duchess. Allegations also claimed that staff would be “reduced to tears”.

In January 2025, royal expert and commentator Camilla Tominey said that Harry was unaware of the bullying allegations.

“Meghan has a habit of using a whisper shout, so when Harry is in the room, he just hears her talking normally and doesn’t understand why people describe her as aggressive. His default response is always ‘Meghan is misunderstood,’” one former employee told Camilla for a piece in The Telegraph.

“She’d throw around phrases like ‘lack of accountability’, ‘disappointment’ or ‘we know what you did, and yet we still decided to support you.’ But when staff tried to get clarity, asking what exactly they had done wrong, she’d dismiss them with lines like, ‘I think it’s best we keep it to ourselves and not advertise it in front of the team,’ ‘We’re here to protect you, not throw you under the bus.’”

Why Buckingham Palace kept investigation findings private

However, four year on, Buckingham Palace has still yet to release their findings into the investigation.

In 2023, royal commentator Valentine Low suggested the reason why the palace had “buried” the outcome of the investigation.

“The palace said it would not be releasing the outcome of the inquiry, or even revealing what lessons had been learnt, on the grounds of confidentiality,” he said.

“But most people suspected that the real reason they were burying the report was to try to keep the peace with Harry and Meghan.”

Prince Harry defended Meghan Markle over ‘bullying’ claims

Prince Harry has spoken out against the allegations made about Meghan. He spoke about them on Apple TV’s The Me You Can’t See.

He said he discovered Meghan in tears before their Oprah interview. This came days after the bullying allegations had emerged in the press.

“[Because of] the combined effort of the firm and the media to smear her, I was woken up in the middle of the night to her crying in her pillow because she doesn’t want to wake me up because I’m already carrying too much,” he said.

“That’s heartbreaking. I held her, we talked, she cried, and she cried, and she cried.”

In addition, he also hit back at allegations claiming Meghan’s behaviour had led to one of her assistants quitting.

Writing in Spare, he said: “[Meghan] was also said to have driven our assistant to quit. In fact, that assistant was asked to resign by Palace HR after we showed them evidence she’d traded on her position with Meg to get freebies.

“But because we couldn’t speak publicly about the reasons for the assistant’s departure, rumours filled the void.”

Meanwhile, more recently, Vanity Fair published allegations of ‘bullying’ against Meghan. Sources claimed the duchess was “really, really awful” to work for.

Reports claimed that Meghan felt “distressed” and “upset” over the allegations.