Meghan ‘bullying’ inquiry buried: Findings of Palace probe into claims will NEVER be made public

Buckingham Palace has effectively buried a report into allegations of bullying by the Duchess of Sussex.

Royal aides yesterday admitted for the first time that the findings will never be made public.

A source said last night: ‘People suspected it would be buried, and now it seems that it has.’ The Daily Mail understands that even those who took part in the inquiry haven’t been told what the outcome is.

Palace officials would confirm only that their investigation had concluded and ‘recommendations on our policy and procedures’ had been taken forward.

Royal aides announced in March last year that they were launching an inquiry into claims that Meghan’s ‘belittling’ behaviour while a working member of the Royal Family drove two female personal assistants out of the household and ‘undermined the confidence’ of a third.

Controversial: Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, during last year’s interview with Oprah Winfrey 

Staff were said to have been left in tears and feeling ‘traumatised’ – with some likening their condition to having post-traumatic stress.

The Royal Household employed a third-party law firm, paid for by the family privately, to probe the claims in a move that some predicted could increase tensions between Harry and Meghan and ‘the institution’.

The allegations have always been strongly denied by the duchess, whose lawyers described them at the time as a ‘calculated smear campaign’. They did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.

Last year a palace spokesman made clear that the specifics of the allegations – which were brought to the attention of senior household staff at the time by Harry and Meghan’s concerned press secretary, Jason Knauf – would not be probed.

But they said they would investigate how the ‘historic allegations of bullying’ were handled by officials and whether any changes to their HR policies and procedures should be instigated as a result.

A spokesman confirmed that ‘if’ those findings were to be made public, they would be included in this year’s Sovereign Grant report – the official annual review into the Queen’s public finances and the running of her household.

But announcing the report yesterday, her Master of the Privy Purse, Sir Michael Stevens, said of the investigation: ‘There is nothing on this in the report. As we said last year, this work was undertaken privately and had no Sovereign Grant money spent on it.

Buckingham Palace has effectively buried a report into allegations of bullying by the Duchess of Sussex (seen with Harry at Kensington Palace)

‘The review has been completed and recommendations on our (HR) policy and procedures have been taken forward. But we will not be commenting further.’

The Mail understands that although the review was concluded several months ago, the tiny handful of former royal staff invited to take part only recently discovered it had been wound up.

And they will not be told what its findings are, or what changes to HR procedures have been made as a result.

‘Considering those who participated did so at great personal and reputational risk to themselves, the fact that they haven’t even been told what the findings are is unfathomable,’ said one source with knowledge of the process.

‘I am sure they will be deeply distressed, but perhaps not entirely surprised given how things have been handled. The household seems to be terrified of upsetting or provoking Harry and Meghan.’

The issue was raised during a briefing about the Sovereign Grant which showed:

• The Queen’s annual expenditure increased by 17 per cent to £102.4 million during 2021/22, forcing officials to dip into savings; 
• The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are now ‘financially independent’, with royal sources saying this was of ‘great credit to them’;
• Sources said Prince Charles would never again accept suitcases stuffed with cash following a row over charity donations;
• The most expensive royal trip in the past year was the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s flights to the Caribbean, costing £226,000;
• Officials insisted they would keep the royal train, despite it being used just six times last year at an average cost of £34,307;
• Property maintenance soared by £14.4 million to £63.9 million, as the ten-year project to renovate Buckingham Palace reaches a crucial stage.

Reports about Meghan’s alleged bullying of staff surfaced just ahead of her explosive Oprah Winfrey interview with Prince Harry early last year. The Palace said it took such claims seriously and vowed to investigate.

The allegations have always been strongly denied by the duchess, whose lawyers described them at the time as a ‘calculated smear campaign’. They did not respond to requests for comment yesterday. Pictured: Lawyer Jenny Afia speaking on The Princes And The Press documentary

Last year, however, the Mail established that only a tiny number of royal employees – both past and present – had been spoken to and that staff feared it was already being ‘kicked into the long grass’. Those interviewed included two of Meghan’s former personal assistants, another senior female member of staff and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, who was then working as Prince William’s private secretary.

Asked why the report into alleged bullying had not even been privately disseminated, a senior royal aide claimed yesterday: ‘One has to recognise HR matters involving individuals are private and those individuals who participated in the review… have a right to that confidentiality.

‘Where there have been improvements that needed to be made to policies and procedures, those have been implemented. And those who participated in the review have been informed that the review has concluded and contained recommendations. Because of the confidentiality of the discussions, we have not communicated the detailed recommendations.’

Palace prioritised peace, whatever the cost to their staff

Analysis by Rebecca English royal editor  

Allegations that the Duchess of Sussex systemically targeted and bullied female staff have been deeply troubling – and problematic – for the Royal Family since they were aired early last year.

It was the first time a member of the Royal Family had been the subject of a formal complaint to senior management about their alleged behaviour – and there was no formal HR policy in place to deal with it.

The fact the allegations had first been made three years previously without any action seemingly being taken also uncomfortably accentuated the depth of the Palace’s paralysis over the issue.

The delicacy of the situation was further exacerbated by the state of relations between Harry and Meghan and the rest of the Royal Family.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex depart the National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral during the Platinum Jubilee earlier this month 

In the wake of their acrimonious departure as working royals and explosive Oprah Winfrey interview, palace officials were simply unable to predict just how this most defensive of couples would react. This is why they decided to focus their inquiries on how the allegations against Meghan were handled, as opposed to the substance of the claims themselves, whose truth or falsity has not been objectively established.

It seemed a neat-ish solution and one that was specifically designed to prevent the duchess and her legal team from having any say in what was being treated as a purely procedural matter.

Now officials have confirmed what the Daily Mail suggested would happen back in December last year – that their entire review is being buried, never to be made public.

And as I reveal today, even the tiny handful of staff who were consulted during the process haven’t been told what, if anything, the Palace plans to do to sharpen up their procedures in the future.

Senior palace officials such as the Queen’s private secretary, Sir Edward Young – who I have been told by multiple sources was also frequently on the receiving end of the worst of the Sussexes’ ire – wanted to do the right thing, but have clearly prioritised peace with Harry and Meghan over their workforce.

It has led some within the household to ask the question: is how your staff are treated and protected really deemed less important than angering the Sussexes?

The answer, for many, is clearly ‘yes’.