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New accounts of alleged bullying behavior by Meghan Markle have been published in a bombshell extract of a new book by The London Times’ royal correspondent Valentine Low, the respected reporter who first reported that formal complaints had been made about Meghan by senior Buckingham Palace staff that she bullied employees.
In the new extract from Low’s book, entitled Courtiers: the Hidden Power Behind the Crown, due to be published early next month in the U.K., Low alleges that Meghan repeatedly left staff in tears and shaking with fear after subjecting them to, or in anticipation of, angry tirades.
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Meghan has previously claimed the accusations are part of “a calculated smear campaign.”
Low also alleges that after a series of public engagements in Australia, Meghan was overheard by several people saying, “I can’t believe I’m not getting paid for this.”
Low writes that in 2017, six months before the couple were even engaged, she told an adviser of Harry’s, “I think we both know I’m going to be one of your bosses soon.”
Low alleges that Meghan saw it as an “insult” to have to deal with junior staff and when gently advised in late 2017 to go easy on her and Harry’s staff, is said to have replied, “It’s not my job to coddle people.”
Low also alleges that Meghan threatened Harry that she would break off the relationship with him if he didn’t publicly announce she was his girlfriend.
Low quotes a source saying, “She was saying, ‘If you don’t put out a statement confirming I’m your girlfriend, I’m going to break up with you.’”
Another source told Low, “He was freaking out, saying, ‘She’s going to dump me.’”
However, it is the bullying allegations that are likely to be most damaging to Meghan and Harry.
After speaking to one individual “particularly harshly” in front of other staff Meghan, it is alleged, told the person, “Don’t worry. If there was literally anyone else I could ask to do this, I would be asking them instead of you.”
Low says that Prince William, hearing of the incident, consoled the woman, assuring her she was doing a “really good job,” causing her to burst into tears.
One staffer who missed a call from Meghan is reported to have said, “She hasn’t called back. I feel terrified... This is so ridiculous. I can’t stop shaking.”
Low details a claim by a member of staff that Meghan and Harry repeatedly upbraided them by phone on a Friday night while the staffer was out for dinner.
The anonymous staffer is quoted as saying, “Every ten minutes, I had to go outside to be screamed at by her and Harry. It was, ‘I can’t believe you’ve done this. You’ve let me down. What were you thinking?’ It went on for a couple of hours.”
The staffer alleged the calls continued “for days,” adding, “You could not escape them. There were no lines or boundaries—it was last thing at night, first thing in the morning.”
Another source tells Low, “There were a lot of broken people. Young women were broken by their behavior.”
Meghan has previously denied allegations of bullying. They were published just before Meghan’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey was broadcast.
“Let's just call this what it is—a calculated smear campaign based on misleading and harmful misinformation,” a statement from the Sussexes’ spokesperson released in March 2021 read. “We are disappointed to see this defamatory portrayal of the Duchess of Sussex given credibility by a media outlet. It's no coincidence that distorted several-year-old accusations aimed at undermining the duchess are being briefed to the British media shortly before she and the duke are due to speak openly and honestly about their experience of recent years.”
Low, said he’d been passed the material by sources who “felt that only a partial version had emerged of Meghan’s two years as a working member of the royal family” and who desired that “the public should have insight into their side of the story before watching the couple’s much-publicized interview with Winfrey.”
Meghan’s lawyer Jenny Afia previously told a documentary, “What bullying actually means is improperly using power repeatedly and deliberately to hurt someone physically or emotionally. The Duchess of Sussex absolutely denies ever doing that. Knowing her as I do, I can’t believe she would ever do that. It just doesn’t match my experience of her at all.”
The Daily Beast has approached Meghan and Harry’s office for comment.
