Prince William went ‘ballistic’ when he heard claims that Meghan Markle was being rude to staff in Kensington Palace.
The explosive claims, revealed in Robert Lacey’s popular book ‘Battle of Brothers’, are said to have triggered a significant rift between William and Prince Harry.
According to Lacey, concerns had been raised to Harry and Meghan about their alleged behaviour towards members of staff as early as 2017.
According to a source from Kensington Palace, Meghan would start sending emails as early as 5am, inundating staff with a flood of messages in their inboxes.
They mentioned that the Sussexes created a ‘highly toxic environment’, causing colleagues to be nervous before meeting with the Duchess of Sussex, along with accusations of bullying. There was a claim that these interactions left one person suffering from PTSD.
While Meghan brushed off a complaint about her conduct from a senior aide, claiming ‘it’s not my job to coddle people’, Prince William did not respond so flippantly to the issue.
According to Lacey, when Jason Knauf – a royal aide who worked with the Sussexes – presented William with a ‘dossier of distress’ about their behaviour he ‘went ballistic’ and was left ‘astonished’ and ‘horrified’ by what he heard.
William’s anger stemmed from the fact that a tradition of treating the staff ‘like family’ within the Royal Family had been broken and that he personally knew many of those named, Lacey wrote.
Prince William and Prince Harry together in 2017. The brothers allegedly had a testy phone call following allegations that Meghan was rude to staff at Kensington Palace
The Duchess of Sussex in June 2018. The source at Kensington Palace claimed that Meghan would begin firing off emails as early as 5am leaving staff with a ‘barrage’ of messages in their inboxes
William’s anger stemmed from the fact that a tradition within the Royal Family had been broken – treating the staff ‘like family’.
Following the dossier, William and Harry allegedly had a testy phone call where the Duke of Sussex ‘flared up in a fierce defence of his wife’.
Roberts wrote: ‘The moment the Prince heard the bullying allegations he got straight on the phone to talk to Harry – and when Harry flared up in furious defence of his wife, the elder brother persisted.
‘Harry shut off his phone angrily, so William went straight round to find his brother on the Kensington campus.’
As early as 2019, rumours of a falling out between the brothers started circulating.
It was first addressed by Harry in the documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, saying ‘you have good days, you have bad days.’
But by 2020, tensions appeared to have deepened when Harry and Meghan announced their plans to step back as senior royals.
Harry later claimed in his Netflix series with Meghan that William screamed and shouted at him during the Sandringham summit.
The brothers were last reunited publicly together at their grandmother Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in September 2022, though they both attended the private funeral for their uncle Robert Fellowes last summer.
Speaking in an Australian documentary earlier this year, Knauf revealed that the estrangement between the two princes had been ‘hard and sad.’
Prince William and Harry in July 2021. As early as 2019, rumours started circling that the brothers had fallen out
Harry and Meghan in 2019 during a royal tour of South Africa. A source claimed the Sussexes reigned over a ‘really toxic environment’ which saw colleagues shaking before meetings with the Duchess of Sussex
The Prince of Princess of Wales with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022. This was the last time the brothers have been reunited publicly
Speaking in the documentary, he said: ‘We have ups and downs in family even when you really love someone you can have times when you don’t want to spend that much time with them.
‘It’s very difficult to have this stuff play out in the public eye but he’s chosen to keep his thoughts on it private and I think all of us who know him really have to respect that.
‘We should do the same, but I will say of course it’s been hard and sad, especially for all of us who know both of them.’
But it’s not just the palace staff, for Meghan has developed a reputation of being difficult to work with.
In September 2024, an unnamed source told the Sunday Times that they witnessed ‘people being chewed up in person and over the phone and made to feel like s***’.
Another source claimed that Meghan ‘screamed’ at a florist down the phone for half an hour after they failed to mention in a post online that the Duchess of Sussex was working with them on a bouquet.
Earlier this year, a bombshell profile in Vanity Fair claimed that Meghan would reportedly be ‘warm and effusive’ towards employees at the start before turning ‘cold and withholding toward the person she perceived to be responsible’ when something ‘went poorly, often due to Meghan and Harry’s own demands’.
A source who worked in media projects told the publication: ‘She’s constantly playing checkers – I’m not even going to say chess – but she’s just very aware of where everybody is on her board.
When Jason Knauf (pictured) presented William with a ‘dossier of distress’ about Harry and Meghan’s behaviour the prince reportedly ‘went ballistic’ and was left ‘astonished’ and ‘horrified’ by what he heard
Meghan at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday in November 2019. Meghan reportedly brushed off a complaint about her conduct from a senior aide, claiming ‘it’s not my job to coddle people’
‘And when you are not in, you are to be thrown to the wolves at any given moment,’ which they say meant ‘undermining’ behaviour, adding: ‘It’s talking behind your back. It’s gnawing at your sense of self. Really, like, Mean Girls teenager.’
The profile also details allegations from former employees of Meghan who reportedly felt mistreated during their time working with her.
These claims, which echoes accusations from her time at Kensington Palace, paint a troubling picture of a woman whose behaviour allegedly left staff ‘having therapy’ and led to allegations of ‘bullying’ behind the scenes. These allegations were vehemently denied by representatives of Meghan and Harry at the time.
However, reports are conflicting.
Producer Jane Marie, who worked with Harry and Meghan during the development of Archewell Audio projects, insisted to Vanity Fair that Meghan is ‘just a lovely, genuine person’.
Other staff members have claimed that she would send her employees gifts ranging from dog leashes to skincare products.
These wildly varying accounts of the work culture Meghan presides over are supported by a source that worked with Meghan in the run-up to her wedding who said that she was ‘lovely when it is all going her way but a demon when the worm turns’.
It is not only the Duchess of Sussex who has faced allegations of workplace bullying.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the Invictus Games in 2022. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have faced allegations they bully members of staff and are difficult to work with
Meghan on the set of her Netflix show ‘With Love, Meghan’. Former employees of the Duchess of Sussex reportedly felt mistreated during their time working with her
Prince Harry has been accused of ‘harassment and bullying at scale’ by the chair of a charity he helped set up.
In March, Prince Harry and his co-founder Prince Seeiso of Lesotho resigned from their roles as patrons of Sentebale due to a dispute between the charity’s chair Dr Sophie Chandauka.
She reported Sentebale to the Charity Commission over issues including abuse of power, bullying, sexism and racism.
In a joint statement, Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso said they were resigning from their roles with ‘heavy hearts’ and in ‘solidarity with the board of trustees’.
The charitable foundation has been close to his heart since his gap year when he fell in love with Lesotho while volunteering in an orphanage.
