Back in 2021, Queen Elizabeth II hired an independent investigator to look into bullying claims made by members of Meghan Markle’s staff.
At the time, many dismissed the investigation as a clever bit of counter-programming by the royals:
The allegations were made public just days before Meghan and Prince Harry sat down for their bombshell interview with Oprah.
Sussex supporters were quick to accuse the royals of attempting to shift the narrative and head off Harry and Meghan’s criticism.
Meghan Markle Bullying Investigation: Legit or Ludicrous?
Meghan’s lawyers called the investigation a “calculated smear campaign.”
But royal defenders argued that the timing of the claims was merely coincidental, and they demanded that the accusations be taken seriously.
The results of the investigation were mostly kept private.
“The review has been completed and recommendations on our policies and procedures have been taken forward,” Michael Stevens, the Queen’s treasurer, said during a briefing at the time, according to The New York Post.
“But we will not be commenting further.”
Three years later, the matter is mostly forgotten. Or at least it was, until Meghan’s former private secretary, Samantha Cohen, broke her silence earlier this week.
Meghan’s Former Secretary Speaks Out
Speaking with Australian newspaper The Herald Sun, Cohen revealed that she was forced to remain in her role for far longer than anticipated due to the royals’ inability to find a suitable replacement secretary for Meghan.
“I was only supposed to stay for six months but stayed for 18 — we couldn’t find a replacement for me, and when we did, we took them on tour to Africa with Harry and Meghan to show them the ropes, but they left (quit) as well while in Africa,” Cohen said.
The remarks are somewhat cryptic, but of course, the anti-Meghan contingent of the British tabloid press has chosen to take Cohen’s comment as evidence that the Duchess of Sussex is impossible to work with.
Cohen was similarly vague on the subject of the late queen, claiming Elizabeth “had no ego” yet “loved it when things went wrong.”
We may never know exactly what Cohen meant by that statement, but there’s certainly a great deal going wrong within the royal family these days.
Meghan and Harry are still feuding with Kate Middleton and Prince William, and it seems that recent family crises have not resulted in a truce, as some observers hoped they would.
The Sussexes have yet to remark on Cohen’s claims, and they’ll probably continue to remain quiet.
But you can be certain that Meghan’s harshest critics will have a field day with this renewed interest in one of the darkest chapters of her career.