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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made a 25-page report to refute claims she had bullied members of staff in the royal household.
The Sussexes forcefully hit back at accusations that Meghan had driven two assistants out of their jobs with her behaviour, with staff accusing the Duchess of screaming at them and contacting them on their evenings off.
The allegations, which were initially reported to human resources by Prince Harry and Prince Williams’ joint press secretary, sparked a review by Buckingham Palace.
Now Harry has used his new memoir, Spare, to rail against the claims, calling them a ‘lie’ and saying that he and Meghan provided a report ‘full of evidence’ to prove this.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive at the long walk in Windsor Castle after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Harry has hit back at claims his wife bullied members of the royal household
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrive with Prince William at a service to mark the centenary of the RAF at Westminster Abbey. Prince Harry says he and his wife produced a 25-page report refuting the bullying claims
The final report by the Palace was kept private to protect those taking part, but Harry makes reference to it being part of a media agenda against him and his wife.
The Telegraph reports he writes in a section of the book: ‘It was so outrageous that even though Meg and I demonstrated their lie with a 25-page report to human resources full of evidence, it was going to be very hard for me to ignore it.’
The claims were made in 2018 when press secretary Jason Knauf sent an email to his boss Simon Case claiming that the treatment of one member of staff by Meghan was ‘totally unacceptable’.
The Times reported told Case, who was Prince Williams’ private secretary and is now cabinet secretary: ‘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.’
He added: ‘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.’
Mr Knauf spent seven years working for the royal family, including spending time as the Princes’ press officer, special adviser to William and Kate, and chief executive of the Royal Foundation.
He was made a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order in the New Years’ Honours, something unlikely to have gone down well with the Sussexes.
In his book, which was released in Spain nearly a week before its official publication date, Harry claims his wife was unfairly depicted as a ‘tyrant’.Â
Claims that Meghan Markle had bullied members of staff were made by Jason Knauf, former press officer to both Prince Harry and Prince William (pictured)
The Duke of Sussex’s memoir, titled Spare, is being released in the UK on January 10Â
The Duke claimed the personal offices of the princes made it easy for the press to attack them, and that when he tried to explain his point of view to William the conversation morphed into an argument about his interview with Oprah.
In their Netflix documentary released in December, the Sussexes said claims Meghan had sometimes reduced royal staff to tears were part of a ‘calculated smear campaign’ in response to the interview.
James Holt, executive director of Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Foundation, told Netflix: ‘The timing of the bullying story has even been admitted by the journalist that wrote it that it was done explicitly because of the Oprah interview.’
Valentine Low, who broke the story for the Times, said the victims of the alleged bullying ‘wanted to get their story out before the Oprah interview’ otherwise ‘their complaints would be lost in the noise’.
In an interview to publicise his memoir, Harry told CBS’s Anderson Cooper he believed people with the Palace had been ‘betraying’ him and his wife by ‘planting stories’ about them in the press.
In a teaser for the interview, which will air tonight in the United States, the Duke of Sussex defended himself from public criticism of their decision to publicly blast the royal family.
He insisted he has ‘tried to do this privately’ but that ‘every single time I’ve tried to do it privately, there have been briefings and leakings and planting of stories against me and my wife’.
In the memoir Harry claims while discussing the Oprah interview his brother ‘lunged’ at him and grabbed his shirt, before invoking the memory of their mother, Diana.
The Duke said William got heated during a walk after the funeral of their grandfather, Prince Philip, in April 2021.Â
Harry claims was trying to address bullying allegations made against Meghan, but his father and brother ‘weren’t listening.’
The dispute broke out as Harry, William and Charles were reportedly discussing the interview he and Meghan Markle gave to Oprah the month before. The Sussexes are picture during the interview
In an extraordinary excerpt from his upcoming autobiography Spare, Harry recalls what he describes as a physical attack by his sibling, now the Prince of Wales, which he claims left him with visible injuries
The California-based royal went on to allege that William was ‘really steaming’ and grasped at him as he tried to walk away.
‘I waved a hand, disgusted, but he lunged, grabbed my shirt. ‘Listen to me, Harold,” Harry wrote in his book, according to The Sun.
‘I pulled away, refused to meet his gaze. He forced me to look into his eyes. ‘Listen to me, Harold, listen! I love you, Harold! I want you to be happy.”
Harry claims he replied: ‘I love you too…but your stubbornness is extraordinary!’
The Duke reportedly tried to pull away, but William allegedly ‘grabbed him again’ and ‘twisted him’ so the pair could maintain eye contact.
William then evoked the brother’s so-called ‘secret code’ and swore on Princess Diana’s life that his intentions were genuine, Harry penned.
He writes that William said: ‘Harold, you must listen to me! I just want you to be happy, Harold. I swear I swear on Mummy’s life.’
Harry continued: ‘He stopped. I stopped. Pa stopped. He’d gone there.
‘He’d used the secret code, the universal password. Ever since we were boys those three words were to be used only in times of extreme crisis.’
The Duke claimed his brother ‘wasn’t quite ready to accept defeat’ and claimed to be ‘properly sick and ill’ over the tensions between the pair.
William allegedly reiterated: ‘I swear to you now on Mummy’s life that I just want you to be happy’.
Harry claims his ‘voice broke’ and he ‘softly’ told William: ‘I really don’t think you do.’
The elder brother then allegedly hugged Harry and said: ‘I love you’.
MailOnline has approached representatives for William and Harry for comment.
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