Ruling on Meghan Markle's bullying allegations 'must be released' after being 'buried'

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have always denied allegations of bullying (Image: Getty)

Buckingham Palace should release its findings over allegations Meghan Markle bullied staff, a royal expert has said. Tom Bower called for the results of a palace probe to be issued after a witness broke her silence.

Samantha Cohen worked closely with the Duchess of Sussex and Queen Elizabeth II in an 18-year long career with the palace. Ms Cohen recently told The Herald Sun she was one of 10 aides interviewed by the palace after a bullying complaint was made in October 2018. The results of the probe have not been made public.

Tom Bower said: "At some stage King Charles has got to decide - and I hope it is sooner rather than later - that the Sussexes must be exposed."

Mr Bower told the Daily Mail the investigation has been "buried" and that the Palace probably believes now is not the time to release details.

He said: "The key thing is until the Sussexes are 'socially destroyed' - their credibility undermined - the Royal Family in Britain is going to be constantly their target."

A former aide to Meghan Markle has confirmed she took part in the Palace probe (Image: Getty)

The author explained that the complainants in the case face a dilemma, telling the same publication that the question now is whether other witnesses involved will "step up above the parapet" and reveal their involvement.

Mr Bower said the problem would be that if they did so, their current employers will fear they cannot be trusted. He added: "They have a major problem of trust and that has always been Meghan's strongest card."

The Palace said in March 2021 that it was very concerned about a report in The Times about bullying allegations made by Prince Harry and Meghan's former staff.

The Times cited unnamed sources as saying an aide to the Sussexes had made a complaint in October 2018 alleging Meghan had reduced some of her assistants to tears and treated others so badly they had quit.

It pledged to look into the circumstances, to speak to staff involved at the time and added that the Royal Household won't tolerate bullying or harassment in the workplace.

Meghan Markle accused the Palace of 'perpetuating falsehoods' (Image: Getty)

Hours later Meghan accused the Palace of "perpetuating falsehoods" about her and Harry. She told US talkshow host Oprah Winfrey: "I don't know how they could expect that after all of this time we would still just be silent, if there is an active role that The Firm is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us.

"And if that comes with risk of losing things, I mean, there's a lot that's been lost already."

Buckingham Palace said lessons had been learned after the review but declined to give any details about the report's conclusions.

Michael Stevens, the late Queen's treasurer, said the privately-funded review carried out by an independent law firm had been set up to examine the handling of the allegations and improve practices across the Royal Households.

In his best selling memoir, Spare, Prince Harry dismissed the bullying allegations as outrageous, describing a "poisoned" atmosphere amid "rivalry, jealousy [and] competing agendas" between the Sussexes and Waleses' teams.

The Express has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment.