Palace staffers ’rescinded’ Meghan Markle bullying claims

A crucial new detail has reportedly come to light amid bullying allegations between Meghan Markle and her former palace staff.

The two Buckingham Palace staffers who accused Meghan Markle of bullying have reportedly rescinded their claims.

In the new release of updated biography Finding Freedom, royal reporters Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand claimed that “upon discovery” of a formal complaint by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s former communications secretary Jason Knauf, “two of the individuals mentioned in the email asked for any allegations made to HR about their experiences with Meghan to be rescinded”.

Mr Knauf originally reported Meghan’s alleged bullying in October 2018 “in an effort to protect staffers,” according to a Times report – which was published in March, just days before Harry and Meghan’s bombshell tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Harry and Meghan spoke candidly about their struggles with the Palace to talk show queen Oprah Winfrey.

“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,” read the HR complaint, which redacted the employees’ names.

“The Duchess seems intent on always having someone in her sights,” Mr Knauf reportedly added. “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.”

However according to details in the Finding Freedom update, the Times apparently failed to report at the time that the staffers withdrew their accusations upon hearing that Mr Knauf had reported the alleged incidents without their permission.

“When it became known to [the two individuals], they each asked for the matter to be rescinded and for it to not become an official complaint,” a source alleged to Scobie at Harper’s Bazaar in March.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sensationally quit the royal family last year, and have been in a war of words with the palace ever since. Picture: Simon Dawson/Pool/AFP

While representatives for Harry, 36, and Meghan, 40, previously said the duo had no involvement in Finding Freedom, the former Suits star reportedly admitted to giving personal information to the authors.

Page Six reported in April that Finding Freedom would be reissued in August with the addition of chapters about the couple’s Winfrey interview, Prince Philip’s death and the bullying allegations against Meghan.

A spokesman for the Duchess of Sussex did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission