After Prince Harry and Meghan Markle moved to Montecito, California, and departed their roles as working royals—a move known as "Megxit"—a little over four years ago, a staggering eighteen senior, experienced employees left the company. It's being referred to as the "Sussex Survivors' Club."
"Everyone's terrified of Meghan. She's absolutely relentless," an unnamed source told The Hollywood Reporter in a bombshell exposé. "She marches around like a dictator in high heels."
And now, an insider told In Touch Weekly, she's prepared to declare war.
"These rumors of her being 'Duchess Difficult have plagued Meghan for years, and she's tired of the character assassinations," the anonymous insider stated. "She's striking back."
A palace investigation was prompted by many staff members' allegations of bullying in 2021.
The claims were refuted by the Sussexes, but because the results were never made public, "it's seemingly Meghan's word against theirs," the undisclosed informant shared. "Her supporters want her to tell her side of the story - and she just may do it."
She'll have enough to talk about. Meghan,43, "belittles people" and "doesn't take advice," according to a former California employee who spoke with The Hollywood Reporter. Another claimed that the former actress would frequently be "fuming and barking orders. I've seen her reduce grown men to tears."
The charges made against her by her former aides in England bear a striking resemblance to those claims.
"Some of them have called her a demanding 'control freak' who terrorized the staff with 5 a.m. emails - some of them say they have PTSD from working with her," the tipster claimed.
"Others have accused her of being a liar for stories she's believed to have leaked about family members like King Charles and Princess Kate, who were accused of being racist," it went on.
It seems that the atmosphere at work was so unhealthy that Jason Knauf, the former press secretary at Kensington Palace, felt he had to denounce Meghan to higher authority.
"I am very concerned that the Duchess was able to bully two PAs out of the household in the past year. The treatment of [redact-ed was totally unacceptable," he wrote in a 2018 email. "The Duchess seems intent on always having someone in her sights. She is bullying redacted] and seeking to undermine her confidence. We have had report after report from people who have witnessed unacceptable behavior toward [redacted]."
A story about Knauf's email surfaced in The Times of London in 2021, along with accounts from other employees. One person remembered how they "[couldn't] stop shaking" before a meeting with Meghan, while another remarked that her treatment felt "more like emotional cruelty and manipulation."
The publication was "being used to peddle a wholly false narrative," in response, which Meghan's attorneys described as a "calculated smear campaign based on misleading and harmful misinformation."
Meghan was reportedly "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 palace hired a third party to carry out an investigation because they took the reports seriously. The palace's human resources department reportedly underwent modifications as a consequence of interviews with ten staff, though specifics were withheld.
"Some people have suggested it's because Charles and William didn't want to stir up more drama with Harry and Meghan," the mole said. "But the Sussexes could argue it's because Meghan didn't do anything that bad."
In a BBC program, Meghan stated that the charges are "just not true," but she also stated that she "wouldn't want to negate anyone's personal experiences." Her backers have labeled the dispute as a confrontation between British and American cultures.
Anna Wintour, the editor of Vogue, stood up for Meghan, calling her a "regular California girl who gets up early and does yoga and sends messages." She herself has been famously labeled a boss from hell. Additionally, Meghan addressed false impressions of her in the "Angry Black Women" episodes of her podcast "Archetypes." While acknowledging that she occasionally could be "particular" in ensuring that a task is completed correctly, she maintained that being clear in your requests "doesn't make you demanding [or| difficult, it makes you clear."
In his biography "Spare," Prince Harry, who was formerly accused of yelling at Queen Elizabeth's personal secretary, "What Meghan wants, Meghan gets," and who was called "very much an enabler" by The Hollywood Reporter, spoke of a "poisoned atmosphere" in the office. Prince Harry, 40, said constructive criticism was not welcome because any criticism was viewed as an insult.
"The complaints from inside the Firm were one thing, but these are American employees leaving," the tattler noted, "which is harder to ignore."
And now that Meghan is spearheading the debut of her lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, and a food series on Netflix, Archewell's fight against cyberbullying.
"They'll be tempted to go on the attack to set the record straight," the spy stated. "But that would mean getting into specifics, which could backfire by causing more people to tell all. The best solution might be to just concentrate on treating her staff really well in the future!"
Business Times has reached out to Meghan Markle for comments.
