New accounts of alleged bullying by Meghan Markle have been published in a bombshell excerpt from a new book by The London Times’ royal correspondent Valentine Low, the respected reporter who was the first to report formal complaints about Meghan being made by senior Buckingham Palace staff that she had bullied employees.
In the new excerpt from Low’s book, entitled Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown Low, to be published in the UK early next month, claims Meghan repeatedly left staff in tears and trembling with fear after subjecting them to, or awaiting, angry diatribes.
Meghan has previously claimed the allegations are part of “a calculated smear campaign”.
Bullying report Meghan Markle buried by palace ‘terrified of upsetting or provoking Harry and Meghan’
Low also claims that after a series of public appearances in Australia, Meghan was overheard by several people to say, “I can’t believe I’m not getting paid for this.”
Low writes that in 2017, six months before the couple were even engaged, she told one of Harry’s advisers, “I think we both know I’m going to be one of your bosses soon.”
Low claims Meghan saw it as an “insult” to deal with junior employees and when he was gently advised in late 2017 to take it easy on her and Harry’s staff, he is said to have replied: “It’s not my job to to coddle.”
Low also claims that Meghan threatened Harry that she would break up with him if he didn’t publicly announce that she was his girlfriend.
Low quotes a source as saying, “She said, ‘If you don’t make a statement confirming that I’m your girlfriend, I’m breaking up with you.'”
Another source told Low: “He panicked and said, ‘She’s going to dump me.'”
However, it’s the bullying allegations that probably hurt Meghan and Harry the most.
After speaking to a person “particularly loudly” in front of other employees, Meghan reportedly told the person: “Don’t worry. If there was literally someone else I could ask this to, I would ask them instead of you.”
Low says Prince William, learning of the incident, comforted the woman and assured her she was doing “a very good job,” causing her to burst into tears.
An employee who missed a call from Meghan is said to have said: “She hasn’t called back. I feel terrified… This is so ridiculous. I can’t stop shaking.”
Low describes an allegation by a staff member that Meghan and Harry repeatedly reproached them over the phone on a Friday night while the staff member was out for dinner.
The anonymous employee is quoted as saying: “Every ten minutes I had to go outside to be verbally abused by her and Harry. It was, ‘I can’t believe you did this. You let me down. What did you think?’ It took a few hours.”
The employee claimed the calls lasted “for days”, adding, “There was no escaping them. There were no lines or boundaries — it was the last thing at night, the first thing in the morning.”
Another source tells Low: “There were a lot of broken people. Young women were broken by their behavior.”
Meghan previously denied allegations of bullying. They were published just before Meghan’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey aired.
“Let’s just call this what it is: a calculated smear campaign based on misleading and harmful misinformation,” said a statement from the Sussex spokesperson released in March 2021. “We are disappointed to see this defamatory portrayal of the Duchess of Sussex being made credible by a media outlet. It is no coincidence that distorted allegations spanning several years aimed at undermining the Duchess are being briefed to the British media shortly before she and the Duke will speak openly and honestly about their experiences over the years.”
Low, said he had obtained the material from sources who “believed that only a partial version of Meghan’s two years as a working member of the royal family had appeared” and who wanted “the public to understand their side of the story.” before watching the couple’s much-discussed interview with Winfrey.”
Meghan’s attorney Jenny Afia previously said in a documentary: “What bullying really means is the repeated and intentional misuse of power to hurt someone physically or emotionally. The Duchess of Sussex adamantly denies that he ever did. Knowing her like me, I can’t believe she would ever do that. It just doesn’t match my experience with her.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to Meghan and Harry’s office for comment.
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