Thursday 30 June 2022 11:30 PM RICHARD KAY examines the history of Meghan Markle's alleged 'Duchess Difficult' ... trends now

Thursday 30 June 2022 11:30 PM RICHARD KAY examines the history of Meghan Markle's alleged 'Duchess Difficult' ... trends now
Thursday 30 June 2022 11:30 PM RICHARD KAY examines the history of Meghan Markle's alleged 'Duchess Difficult' ... trends now

Thursday 30 June 2022 11:30 PM RICHARD KAY examines the history of Meghan Markle's alleged 'Duchess Difficult' ... trends now

Five o’clock in the morning is an unusual time for a member of the Royal Family to be issuing instructions for staff. It smacks of panic and suggests an overly controlling nature. It is certainly anti-social.

But in the summer of 2018 junior employees at Kensington Palace were becoming wearily familiar with these dawn emails and texts from the newly married Duchess of Sussex.

Palace officials were at first quick to offer reassurance: part of Meghan’s working day meant connecting with contacts in the U.S., they said, when she had to be at her desk because of the time difference, hence the early messages to staff. They also talked of ‘cultural differences’ in management style. Americans, they suggested, were more direct.

Meanwhile, friends of the former actress were gushing to People magazine that Meghan had always prided herself on being a good boss. On one occasion, they related, she had paid for an ice cream stand to come to provide free treats for the staff. But over time these explanations seemed increasingly threadbare.

By October the glow of her and Prince Harry’s May wedding had long since faded and insiders were openly describing Meghan as ‘Duchess Difficult’.

By October the glow of her and Prince Harry¿s May wedding had long since faded and insiders were openly describing Meghan as ¿Duchess Difficult¿

By October the glow of her and Prince Harry’s May wedding had long since faded and insiders were openly describing Meghan as ‘Duchess Difficult’

Jason Knauf

Samantha Cohen

Intervention: Former communications director Jason Knauf, left, and private secretary Samantha Cohen, right

Controversial: Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, during last year¿s interview with Oprah Winfrey, which was broadcast in March 2021 just hours after the bullying claims emerged

The couple returned to the UK in June for the Platinum Jubilee

Controversial: Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, during last year’s interview with Oprah Winfrey, which was broadcast in March 2021 just hours after the bullying claims emerged. The couple returned to the UK in June for the Platinum Jubilee (right) but were largely in the background

How the 2021 allegations unfolded with a statement from the Duchess of Sussex at the time saying it was a 'calculated smear campaign'. Harry and Meghan were reportedly not interviewed as part of the probe

How the 2021 allegations unfolded with a statement from the Duchess of Sussex at the time saying it was a 'calculated smear campaign'. Harry and Meghan were reportedly not interviewed as part of the probe

This had nothing to do with American-style straight-talking, but rather with what one figure suggested was her sharp, adversarial manner. Stories began to circulate of secretaries being reduced to tears and the word ‘bully’, fairly or unfairly, was being murmured about the duchess’s behaviour.

Just months ago Buckingham Palace promised it would publish its report into how the historic allegations of bullying were handled by officials. But how hollow those pledges sound today. Instead of disclosing the steps taken to protect victims of the allegations, a curtain has been drawn over them.

The report is buried, the changes to Palace protocols unexplained. As the Mail reported yesterday, the suspicion is that the promise of transparency has been sacrificed in order to placate the couple at the heart of the sorry saga — Harry and Meghan.

Working for the royals has never been for the faint-hearted. The hours are long, the pay poor and the requirements of the job have put many a domestic relationship under pressure. At the same time, one person’s bully is another person’s demanding boss.

There is, however, a world of difference between the kind of exacting standards Prince Charles is, for example, known to expect from his team and those rumours that began circulating from within the Sussex household of youthful aides being humiliated.

It emerged that the duchess had faced bullying complaints from members of her staff. She was accused of driving two aides out of the household and of undermining the confidence of a third employee.

Almost four years ago, in the autumn of 2018, the developments took a sensational turn when Jason Knauf, the couple’s communications secretary at the time, submitted a formal complaint about the claims in an apparent bid to protect his staff. As the man in charge of the couple’s public image, Jason Knauf was so alarmed by what he had heard that he set it down in an email, writing: ‘I am very concerned that the duchess was able to bully two PAs out of the household in the past year. 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).’

In the same message, Mr Knauf expressed concern about the stress experienced by Samantha Cohen, the couple’s private secretary, a veteran of the Queen’s office and a highly regarded palace operator.

But for two-and-a-half years the bullying details remained secret. It was only after Harry and Meghan had quit royal life and moved to California that the allegations were made public. They were published in The Times just days before the couple sat down for their tell-all interview with America’s TV queen, Oprah Winfrey. In response, representatives for the duchess said that it was ‘being used by Buckingham Palace to peddle a wholly false narrative based on misleading and harmful misinformation’.

One former employee told the newspaper that they had been personally ‘humiliated’ by the duchess. It was

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