Meghan Markle’s former staff members have spoken out, and while some described her as ambitious and hardworking, others referred to her as a “demon” and “psycho”. This revelation comes after a recent article in US Weekly sought to portray Markle in a better light as a good boss who buys her staff bunches of fresh flowers and home-grown eggs, making them feel like seeds being watered.
The Daily Beast reported that while some of her former staff members testified Markle was caring, there were others subjected to threatening behaviour by her. One anonymous source, who worked with Meghan when she was still a member of the royal family said, “There definitely were bad, very bad, even psycho moments”. According to this source, people have been more focused on Markle after she left her royal duties stating that other royals like Princess Margaret and Prince Andrew have been involved in some similar acts yet they continue to hold their royal duties.
The major gripe stemmed from a memo sent by Markle’s ex-press secretary, Jason Knauf, complaining about her treatment of the palace staff. In the complaint, Knauf accused her of bullying two personal assistants to resign and was determined to destabilise another.
In 2018, Knauf wrote to Prince William’s then-private secretary Simon Case, saying: “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.”
This letter, which came to public domain before Markle’s interview with Oprah Winfrey, was also used as the confirmation of a toxic workplace.
The Duchess of Sussex previously accused the London Times of seeking to smear her when it published the Knauf letter, pointing out that the revelations were published shortly before her highly anticipated interview with Winfrey.
Josh Kettler, who was employed by Prince Harry and Markle for only a short time, told the Daily Beast that the two were committed and diligent workers but did not explain why he left after working for the couple for three months only. Similarly, few other former aides spoke only good things about the couple and their experience working with them.
This report came after Us Weekly provided a much more pleasant narrative including positive remarks from Ben Browning, who worked on her and Prince Harry’s documentary for Netflix in 2022 and Catherine St-Laurent, their former chief of staff, who said she had nice interactions with them and supported the couple.
But the Hollywood Reporter provided a different view of events with insiders citing her as belittling her staff and becoming a “dictator in high heels.” A source said that he witnessed her causing grown men to cry.
Over the years, both Markle and Prince Harry have had their problems with high staff turnover rates. Earlier this year, Buckingham Palace reportedly looked into allegations of bullying against the Duchess but the outcome was never disclosed to the public.
